A new dictionary of the terms ancient and modern of the canting crew : in its several tribes, of gypsies, beggers, thieves, cheats, &c. With an addition of some proverbs, phrases, figurative speeches, &c. Useful for all sorts of people, (especially foreigners) to secure their money and preserve their lives; besides very diverting and entertaining, being wholly new. By B.E. Gent.
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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| Item Description: | Publication date from Wing. Signatures: A⁴ B-M⁸. E., B., GENT. A new dictionary of the terms ancient and modern of the canting crew. In its several tribes, of gypsies, beggars, thieves, cheats, &c. With an addition of some proverbs, phrases, figurative speeches, &c. Useful for all sorts of people, (especially foreigners) to secure their money and preserve their lives... By B.E., gent. London: printed for W. Hawes, P. Gilbourne, and W. Davis, [?1699]. First edition of the first dictionary of slang, unpaginated, collating A1-A4, B1-M8; margins of first and last leaves browned, mild spotting throughout; contemporary full sheep, spine worn but a good, unrestored copy. Another edition appeared the same year (no priority). "the most complete glossary of cant to have appeared by the end of the 17th century" and also "the first dictionary to record ordinary slang as such" (Partridge, History of Slang, page 62). "This dictionary is perhaps the most important dictionary of slang ever printed, since it had such an influence on later compilations ... Nothing is known of B.E., gent. From his dictionary one gathers that he was an antiquary. Some of his words and definitions bear no relation to slang or cant, but merely gratify his whim for curiosa. He may have known Rochester, D'Urfey, and the Earl of Dorset, and a close study of their literary remains may give a clue as to his identity ... The New Canting Dictionary, Bacchus and Venus, The Scoundrel's Dictionary, the canting dictionary appended to Nathan Bailey's Dictionary, Grose's Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue - all are based on B.E., gent." (Burke, The Literature of Slang, page 65). Kennedy 11881; Starnes, pages 221-223; Wing E5; Alston IX, 268 (locating only the BM, Yale, and Harvard copies); Vancil, page 77. |
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| Physical Description: | 184 unnumbered pages ; octavo. |