I can't think of any volume that has been quoted and referenced on this board more often than The Dictionary. But we do not often consider the lexicographer or his task, which cannot be an easy one. Johnson remarks in his Preface, "Every other authour may aspire to praise; the lexicographer can only hope to escape reproach, and even this negative recompense has been granted to very few." The opportunies for error and omission are so great that a critic is challenged in merely discriminating large faults from small ones.

So in light of the fact that it seems to have been viewed in a negative way, if at all, does anyone care to delve into the art and craft of lexicography?