The eighteenth century is renowned for the publication of Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language, which reference sources still call the first English dictionary. This collection demonstrates the inaccuracy of that claim, but its tenacity in the public mind testifies to how decisively Johnson formed our sense of what a dictionary is. The essays and articles in this volume examine the already flourishing tradition of English lexicography from which Johnson drew, as represented by Kersey, Bailey, and Martin, as well as the flourishing contemporary trade in encyclopedic, technical, pronunciation, and bilingual lexicons.

Musical salons as liminal spaces: salonnières as agents of musical culture -- Sensuality, sociability, and sympathy: musical salon practices as enactments of Enlightenment --Ephemerae and authorship in the salon of Madame Brillon -- Composition, collaboration, and the cultivation of skill in the salon of Marianna Martines -- The cultural work of collecting and performing in the salon of Sara Levy -- Musical improvisation and poetic painting in the salon of Angelica Kauffman -- Reading musically in the salon of Elizabeth Graeme -- Conclusion.