LettertoLordChestfield-byGroupOne选编.pptx

Letter to Lord Chestfield --by Samuel Johnson;;;Who is Samuel Johnson?;The son of a booker seller, born in poverty. He soon contracted scrofula（淋巴结核）. An operation was performed that left him with permanent scars across his face and body. Johnson demonstrated signs of great intelligence as a child. To earn money, Johnson began to stitch books for his father, and it is possible that Johnson spent most of his time in his fathers bookshop reading various works and building his literary knowledge. ;;In 1728, a few weeks after he turned 19, Johnson entered Pembroke College, Oxford. After thirteen months, a shortage of funds forced Johnson to leave Oxford without a degree. He eventually received a degree: just before the publication of his Dictionary in 1755, Oxford University awarded Johnson the degree of Master of Arts. He was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1765 by Trinity College Dublin and in 1775 by Oxford University. ;After nine years of work, Johnsons A Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1755; it had a far-reaching effect on Modern English and has been described as one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship. This work brought Johnson popularity and success. Until the completion of the Oxford English Dictionary 150 years later, Johnsons was viewed as the pre-eminent British dictionary. ; 到了十八世纪中叶,意大利人有了他们的大词典；甚至世仇法国人也有了他们的大词典，而英国居然没有！但意大利文和法文大词典都是国家文学院编的，特别是法文大词典，四十位院士化了四十年才编成。而英国当时没有相应的学院；英国王室又像英国商人一样斤斤计较：资助四十位学者工作四十年，这投资是否收得回来？ 只能靠个人在有限几年内编成，这本词典的市场需要才会转化为商业可能。颇有几位文化名人跃跃欲试，仔细考虑之后，却是个个知难而退。１９４６年，伦敦几家出版商，联手找上了塞缪尔·约翰生。 ; 时年三十七岁的约翰生，是伦敦出名的万能文人，写作、评论、翻译、编杂志，样样都来。 因为父亲生意失败，无钱交纳学费，约翰生被迫从牛津中途退学。因为没有学位，约翰生无法担任体面的公职。 他又不幸患有抽动障碍， 偶尔会有不合时宜的怪动作，为贵族做个秘书，也可能被解雇。 ; 出版商的开价一千五百个金基尼（约合现在二十二万英镑），对约翰生而言是天文数字，他答应在三年内交卷。 约翰生其实干了九年才收工。即将完成前，他的朋友劝说牛津大学有关人士：这般重要著作，当应出自牛津人之手。牛津大学就为约翰生补了个学位。词典出版十年后，都柏林大学授予约翰生名誉博士学位；又十年，牛津大学颁了博士学位。所以现在人们都称他为约翰生博士。 在编词典的九年中，约翰生博士受到生活种种打击。贫穷始终追随着他。虽然出版商的预付金，按当时的标准不算少，但里面包括了买书、租工作场地和支付助手工资等全部费用。最