Yet it may gratify curiosity to inform it, that the english dictionary was written with little assistance of the learned, and without any patronage of the great; not in the soft obscurities of retirement, or under the shelter of academick bowers, but amidst inconvenience and distraction, in sickness and in sorrow. –preface to a dictionary of the english language, samuel johnson according to the passage, what distinguishes johnson’s dictionary from others? it was the first dictionary to be produced by a group of scholars at a university. it was written almost single-handedly, with little financial or scholarly support. it was written by an author who was both curious and learned. it was the first dictionary to include definitions of simple, everyday words.