The evolution of English lexicographyMurray, James Augustus Henry, Sir
History
The evolution of English lexicography
Murray, James Augustus Henry, Sir
Encyclopedias and dictionaries -- History and criticism; English language -- Lexicography -- History
[7] It must however be mentioned that the second dictionary of English
and another modern tongue was appropriately 'A Dictionary in Englyshe
and Welshe, moche necessary to all suche Welshemen as wil spedlye
learne the englyshe tongue, thought vnto the kynges maiestie very mete
to be sette forth to the vse of his graces subiectes in Wales, ... by
Wyllyam Salesbury.' The colophon is 'Imprynted at London in Foster
Lane, by me John Waley. 1547.'
[8] In the Dedication he says, 'Which worke, long ago for the most
part, was gathered by me, but lately augmented by my sonne Thomas, who
now is Schoolemaister in London.'
[9] 'To the right honourable, worshipfull, vertuous, & godlie Ladies,
the Lady Hastings, the Lady Dudley, the Lady Mountague, the Ladie
Wingfield, and the Lady Leigh, his Christian friends, R.C. wisheth
great prosperitie in this life, with increase of grace, and peace from
GOD our Father, through Iesus Christ our Lord and onely Sauiour.' (A
2.)
[10] His explanations of such words were curt enough: '_Cat_, a
Creature well known'; '_Horse_, a Beast well known'; '_Man_, a
Creature endued with Reason.'
[11] 'An interleaved copy of Bailey's dictionary in folio he made the
repository of the several articles.' _Works of J._, 1787, I. 175.
[12] Pg. _coco_, a grinning mask, applied to the coco-nut because of
the three holes and central protuberance at its apex, suggesting two
eyes, a mouth, and nose.
[13] The following are examples of his own practice: _The Rambler_
(1751), No. 153, par. 3, 'I was in my eighteenth year dispatched to
the university.' Ibid., No. 161, par. 4, 'I ... soon dispatched a
bargain on the usual terms.' _Letter to Mrs. Thrale_, May 6, 1776, 'We
dispatched our journey very peaceably.'
[14] Among such must be reckoned the treatment of words in the
explanation of which Johnson showed political or personal animus or
whimsical humour, as in the well-known cases of _whig_, _tory_,
_excise_, _pension_, _pensioner_, _oats_, _Grub-street_,
_lexicographer_ (see Boswell's _Johnson_, ed. Birkbeck Hill, i. 294);
although it must be admitted that these have come to be among the
famous spots of the Dictionary, and have given gentle amusement to
thousands, to whom it has been a delight to see 'human nature' too
strong for lexicographic decorum.
[15] In some cases, long Lists of the Authors, from whose works 'the
illustrative quotations have been selected,' are given, without the
statement that many of those quotations have not actually been
selected from the authors and works named, but have merely been
annexed from Johnson or one of his supplementers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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