The Great Dictionary Quest
riant can find YN, an nsposal. deBt ~eference one or ~d in easuresonably nest These questions have been asked me so frequently that it seems wise to attempt an answer at once, lest the reader (like ITly friends and faITlily) doubt ITly sanity. Collecting old dictionarie s was not the result of logical appraisal but an emotional course of action brought about by a strong, inner urge which I never bothered to analyze. I have always been interested in books because I grew up in a family, although of ITlodest means, that had a fairly scholarly library. And at an early age word meanings and dictionarie s fascinated ITle.
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THE GREAT DICTIONARY QUEST
WARREN N. CORDELL No rthbrook, TIlinois
Why do you have a house full of old dictionarie s?
What are they good for?
What do you plan to do with them?
The private collecting of old English dictionaries is unusual be
cause it differs so much in scope froITl collecting the works of a single
author. This difference is even greater when the terITl II old English
dictionaries" is interpreted broadly to include all kinds of dictionaries,
all different editions, early ITlulti-lingual dictionaries including Eng
lish, and the early Latin and Greek dictionaries that contributed to the
developITlent of the English language. No bibliophile is likely to start
out on such an aITlbitious scale. Collecting ove r such a wide scope is
more likely to occur gradually as the search for specific books un
covers those in related fields. Unless a definite category or area of
collection can be described, the collection area will continue to fan
out as the collector ' s appetite grows and book dealers offer associated
item.s of interest. The collector m.ust exhibit considerable discipline
to keep his collection instincts within appropriate bounds.
In 1961 m.y acquisition of old dictionaries got under way with the
purchas e of quite a few from. Inm.an, Flem.ing, Hrentano' s, and Scrib
ner l s in New York, and Lowderm.ilk' s in Washington. Am.ong these
fir st acquis itions we re such Hem.s as William. Thom.as r 1550 Gramm.ar
with an Italian dictionary, Florio's 1598 Italian-English dictionary and
Webster! s 1806 and 1828 first editions. At this early stage, I collect
ed dictionaries with great joy without troubling m.yself as to m.y goals
or purpose. Nor did I have very m.uch inform.ation regarding the field
in which I was searching. It took som.e tim.e before I could locate
sources that could supply.definitive inform.ation as to the nam.es of dif
ferent lexicographers and the editions I should seek.
For som.e reason Worcester's dictionaries eluded m.e for several
year s. Perhaps it was just as well, because I was already enthralled
with dictionary collecting when m.y first acquisition of a Worcester
dictionary brought about a crucial reappraisal of m.y goals. This quar
to edition of Worcester contained 'I A Catalogue of English Dictionar
ies ll -- a seven-page list of 398 lexicographical works by nearly that
num.ber of lexicographer s. This list did not include the m.any differ
ent editions of each work. And I could see that it was incom.plete. in
m.any ways. Yet it was the most com.prehensive list in compact form.
I have ever found showing the wide scope and types of English diction
aries. As I studied Worcester's catalogue I realized I had before me
a m.ap describing the unknown continent I had chosen to explore. For
the fir st tim.e, I had a grasp of how many English lexicographers there
had been, the m.any kinds of dictionaries, and the m.agnitude of work
invo-lved, particularly if I held to m.y desire to acquire all editions in
stead of just first editions. I was tem.pted to restrict m.yself to just
one of Worcester's dictionary categories. I spent several weeks in
doubt, as m.y pragm.atic logic wre sUed with my bibliomania cal psyche.
Several years of collecting old dictionaries had allowed the collector IS
virus to becom.e too well-entrenched to succum.b to me re reason. I
finally decided to go all out in all areas and (upon each acquisition) to
pI ant my flag on Worce ster 1 s m.ap of English lexicography. At tim.es ,
em.otional decisions are better than logical ones because they have
m.ore courage.
The encouragem.ent re suIting from m.arking acquisition progres s
on the Worcester list provided vital stim.ulatlon of adrenalin for zest
ful effort and relaxants for purse strings. Later, I found other lists
for gauging progress from. such sources as Starnes and Noyes's Eng
lish Dictionaries from. Cawdrey to Johnson, Starnes' Renais sance Dic
tionaries, and Alston's bibliography of regular English dictionaries.
Later on, Hayashi 1 s list of English dictionary first editions was help
ful, although by that tim.e my own sour ce s were nearly as com.plete
and in som.e cases perm.itted m.e to offer him corrections.
But the Worcester list and th (...truncated)