Transactions 1983 [antikvár]

TRANSACTIONS'"PHIS is ihe Transactions which gives details of the runup to the 1984 Bi-Centenary celebrations and differs from previous issues in several respects.It is the first Transactions for many years which contains no Presidential Address. Sir William Rees-Mogg did not feel able to provide a written transcript of his address, given, as it was, without a verbatim set of notes. Those who were at the 1983 Supper enjoyed 'Samuel Johnson's place in History those who were not may wish that the Society had tape-recorded it.The other main difference which marks this issue out from previous Transactions is that it is edited not by the Literary Secretary but by a 'prentice hand. The amount of extra work placed on Society Members by the 1984 Celebrations at first delayed this issue and then necessitated the change. In the manner of such ad hoc arrangements, the temporary Editor was then taken ill. finding himself suffering from a Bi-Centenary hydrocele (see p.68, Transactions, 19S2) but without Johnson's editorial skill as an accompaniment.The third difference is in the use of references. For this year, contributor's own references have been used without standardisation in the usual way. This may well benefit those with older editions of Johnson's works, and is prompted by the Editor's enforced lack of access to any library but his own.As 1984 progresses, the sheer splendour and ambitious scale of the celebrations has become apparent and the great success anticipated seems assured. A full account will appear in the 1984 Transactions of this excellent sequence of events. The ' 1984 Committee' certainlv started something when they sat down to plan a modest celebrationand the reality is good indeed.* * * *As editor of Transactions, the Literary Secretary welcomes contributions both as principal papers or to ' the Johnson Forum ' section which is intended for shorter or3