Johnson's Dictionary

Allow me to join the choir of warm-hearted enthusiasts who are singing the praises of The Year of Dr. Johnson's Dictionary (thanks, Patrick; thanks, Frank). By way of a sample, here is

A’DAGE. n.s. [adagium, Lat.] A maxim handed down from antiquity; a proverb.
Shallow, unimproved intellects, that are confident pretenders
to certainty; as if, contrary to the adage, science had no friend
but ignorance. Glanville’s Scepsis Scientifica, c.2.
Fine fruits of learning! old ambitious fool,
Dar’st apply that adage of the school;
As if ’tis nothing worth that lies conceal’d;
And science is not science ’til reveal’d? Dryd. Pers. Sat. i.

An accessible introduction is Robert DeMaria Jr., Johnson's Dictionary and the Language of Learning (UNC Press 1986).