The new and complete dictionary of the English language . To which is prefixed a compendious grammar

Ash, John

Published by Edward and Charles Dilly, London, 1775

About this Item

First edition, 2 volumes, 8vo, unpaginated lexicon in double column; collating A5 a-b4 c2 B-4G4; [*] *4G 4H-7L4 7M2; full 19th-century speckled calf imperceptibly rebacked, with original spines laid down, black morocco labels; otherwise, about fine. With "[Price Twelve Shillings bound.]" printed at bottom of the title page in volume I (ESTC variant 3, with no priority). Ash (?1724-1779) was an English Baptist minister whose dictionary (second edition, 1795) was compiled on the basis of Bailey's. In a catalogue of 1872 John Russell Smith writes: "A very useful dictionary as it contains obsolete, provincial, and cant words and phrases, besides a number of technical terms." In a letter to David Ramsay, Webster notes: "It is questionable how far vulgar and cant words are to be admitted into a dictionary. Johnson has transgressed the rules of lexicography beyond any other compiler; for his work contains more of the lowest of all vulgar words than any other now extant, Ash excepted." Alston V, 288; Kennedy 6278; Vancil, p. 10. Seller Inventory # 64337

Bibliographic Details

Title: The new and complete dictionary of the ...

Publisher: Edward and Charles Dilly, London

Publication Date: 1775

Edition: 1st Edition