2 volumes. 383; 353 pp. Engraved portrait frontispiece in Volume 1; 13 stipple-engraved plates. (8vo) 21x13 cm (8¼x5¼"), period full tree calf, spines gilt, red leather labels.

This issue with the second line of imprint beginning "Holborn." Besides working on the Dictionary, Johnson also wrote various essays, sermons, and poems during these nine years. He decided to produce a series of essays under the title 'The Rambler' that would run every Tuesday and Saturday for twopence each. Explaining the title years later, he told his friend, the painter Joshua Reynolds: "I was at a loss how to name it. I sat down at night upon my bedside, and resolved that I would not go to sleep till I had fixed its title. The Rambler seemed the best that occurred, and I took it".