The Great Dictionary Quest

Word Ways, Dec 1978

Why do you have a house full of old dictionaries? What are they good for? What do you plan to do with them?

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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. UZZLES fivided and rs I Helene , 1978; s out the ~e out of ets of Ie, and with ttered agazines dozens nec's ld fur­ people onsicler 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)


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Warren N. Cordell. The Great Dictionary Quest, Word Ways, 1978, Volume 11, Issue 4,