Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

After watching Blackadder the other evening I was intrigued enough to have a look and find out a little more about the man who wrote the dictionary - did he have problems describing the Aardvark I wondered?   The book is an amazing feat - begun in 1746 with a contract worth 1500 guineas and taking almost ten years, it contained 42,773 entries, stood 18 inches high and 20 inches wide when published for the huge price of £4.10 shillings (roughly £350).  The authors most frequently quoted were Shakespeare, Dryden and Milton.  it was not the first dictionary ever published but it became the most important with five more editions being published throughout Johnson's lifetime and has been described as 'one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship.'