E-raamat: Historical Dictionaries in their Paratextual Context

The study of English dictionaries in the past has tended to focus on the lexicographers, but here scholars of English look instead at what the features of a dictionary besides its text can reveal about the purposes of the lexicographer and publisher in the context of their particular time and place. Their topics include whether Anne Maxell printed John Wilkins' An Essay Towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language (1668), printed English dictionaries in the National Library of Russia to the mid-17th century, the use of mechanical reasoning: John Quincy and his Lexicon physico-medicum (1719), paratexts and the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary: content marketing in the 19th century, and subscribers and patrons: Jacob Serenius and his Dictionarium Anglo-Svethico-Latinum 1734. Annotation ©2019 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Both dictionary and paratext research have emerged recently as widely-recognised research areas of intrinsic interest. This collection represents an attempt to place dictionaries within the paratextual context for the first time. This volume covers paratextual concerns, including dictionary production and use, questions concerning compilers, publishers, patrons and subscribers, and their cultural embedding generally. This book raises questions such as who compiled dictionaries and what cultural, linguistic and scientific notions drove this process. What influence did the professional interests, life experience, and social connexions of the lexicographer have? Who published dictionaries and why, and what do the forematter, backmatter, and supplements tell us? Lexicographers edited, adapted and improved earlier works, leaving copies with marginalia which illuminate working methods. Individual copies offer a history of ownership through marginalia, signatures, dates, places, and library stamps. Further questions concern how dictionaries were sold, who patronised them, subscribed to them, and how they came to various libraries.

The series features monographs and edited volumes on the topics of lexicography and meta-lexicography. Works from the broader domain of lexicology are also included if they strengthen the theoretical, methodological and empirical basis of lexicography and meta-lexicography.
Thevolumes focus on aspects of lexicography such as micro- and macrostructure, typology, history of the discipline, and application-oriented lexicographical documentation.