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Synopsis
Here is a real treat for lovers of English – the very first dictionary in our language. Contrary to popular opinion, this honour goes not to Samuel Johnson, whose definitive tome appeared in 1755, but to Robert Cawdrey, who published his Table Alphabeticall in 1604.
Written for the benefit of Ladies, Gentlewomen or any other unskilfull persons, this was not a book for scholars but was aimed squarely at the non-fiction best-seller list of its day. It is a treasure-house of meaning, bristling with arresting and eminently quotable definitions. For example geometrie is the ‘art of measuring the earth’, and hecticke is ‘inflaming the hart, and soundest parts of the bodie’, while barbarian is ‘a rude person’, and a concubine is a ‘harlot, or light huswife’.
Cawdrey did set out to create an exhaustive catalogue of the language but rather a guide which would unlock the mystery of hard usual English wordes, borrowed from the Hebrew, Greeke, Latine, or French for educated gentlefolk encountering new words which English was then absorbing at a phenomenal rate.
Every entry in this list of 2,543 words sheds interesting light on early modern life and the development of the language. This edition, prepared from the sole surviving copy of the first edition, now in the Bodleian Library, also includes an extensive introduction setting the dictionary in its historical, social and literary context, and exploring the unusual and interesting career of its little-known author.
Published eight years ahead of the first of the first Italian dictionary and 35 years ahead of the first French dictionary, this work shows Cawdrey as a man ahead of his time and foreshadows the phenomenal growth of English and its eventual triumph as the new global lingua franca.
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About the Author
John Simpson is the Chief Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary.
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The first English dictionary, 1604 : Robert Cawdrey's A table alphabetical.
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Bodleian Library, Oxford, first edition, 2007, 2007
ISBN 10: 1851243852
ISBN 13: 9781851243853
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Cloth, 8vo, 21 cm, 154 pp. "This edition made from the sole surviving copy of the first printing in 1604 of A table alphabeticall by Robert Cawdrey, now in the Bodleian Library, shelfmark Arch. A f.141 (2)" From the blurb: "Contrary to popular opinion, the author of the first English dictionary is not Samuel Johnson, but Robert Cawdrey - a defrocked priest - who published A Table Alphabetical 149 years earlier in 1604. Unlike Dr Johnson, who strove to create a comprehensive dictionary, Cawdrey drew up a table of hard words - what was the point of defining everyday words which everyone knew? He therefore helpfully subtitled his work for the benefit & helpe of Ladies, Gentlewomen, or any other vnskilfull persons. Long known to lexicographers, Cawdrey's contribution to the English language has been overlooked on a popular level. Cawdrey lived in the age of Shakespeare and other literary giants, when many of the great works of literature, religion, law, history, and exploration became available to an increasingly literate and educated public. His book is a testament to the sense of national self- confidence under Elizabeth I and a new pride in the English language. For modern readers, it is a treasure-house of meaning, bristling with arresting, enlightening, and eminently amusing definitions. This edition makes available for the first time to a wider audience this important landmark text, out of print for over 350 years and standing at the head of a tradition that leads through Dr Johnson, Noah Webster, the Oxford English Dictionary, up to the English dictionaries of today. With an excellent introduction setting Cawdrey in context, this volume is vital reading for anyone with even a passing interest in the English language." Very Good in Very Good dustwrapper. Seller Inventory # ABE-65027
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The First English Dictionary 1604 : Robert Cawdrey's a Table Alphabeticall
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The First English Dictionary, 1604: Robert Cawdrey's A Table Alphabeticall
Published by
Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, 2007
ISBN 10: 1851243852
ISBN 13: 9781851243853
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The First English Dictionary 1604: Robert Cawdrey's A Table Alphabeticall
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Oxford, Great Britain: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, 2007
ISBN 10: 1851243852
ISBN 13: 9781851243853
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Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. Presumed first edition. "First published in 2007 by the Bodleian Library" stated. No additional dates, editions or printings indicated. Fine if not new hardback in fine, if not new dust jacket (￡12.99 $25.00) on rear panel. Seller Inventory # 103145
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The First English Dictionary 1604: Robert Cawdrey's A Table Alphabeticall
Published by
Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, 2007
ISBN 10: 1851243852
ISBN 13: 9781851243853
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