Guiseppe Baretti (1719-1789), Italian literary critic, lived in London and spent time with Samuel Johnson and his associates. This dictionary is one of Baretti's best-known works along with a dissertation on Shakespeare and Voltaire. Elizabeth Vesey (1715-1791) was a wealthy English intellectual who was credited with fostering the Bluestockings, a society of women which hosted informal literary and political discussions that Johnson and his companions were known to attend. Dedication written by Samuel Johnson.