Samuel Johnson's handwritten notes for the definition of "aching": "Pain; uneasiness When old age comes upon him it comes alone, bringing no other evil with it ..."

2009 marks the tercentenary of the birth of Samuel Johnson, author, essayist, journalist, editor, and lexicographer of such repute that his era is known as the Age of Johnson. To mark the occasion, Yale University’s Beinecke Library has launched a blog that celebrates what is perhaps Johnson’s best-known achievement (other than being the subject of one of history’s earliest and best biographies, by Robert Boswell) — that is, a blog that offers a word-a-day from Johnson’s dictionary, which was, of course, one of the first, towering over its predecessors and contemporaries for thoroughness and erudition. As the site explains, “Words will be taken from the annotated proof copy of the first edition, extra-illustrated with Johnson’s and his helpers’ manuscript corrections, which is held in the collections of Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.” meanwhile, another blog, called simply Samuel Johnson Tercentenary 2009, celebrates everything about the man for the course of the year, marking all activities and events in and around London.