First Dictionaries: These entries cover some of the milestones that dictionaries went through to get to the version we see today, some are small and focused while others are extensive and expand many subjects.
By tlslater
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Table Alphabeticall
Robert Cawdrey's Table Alphabetical was the first single-language English Dictionary and was published in 1604. Approximately 3,000 words are listed, each defined by a simple description. The author's aim was to create an in-depth guide for the lesser educated who might not know "hard" words of the time period. Most of the these words came from foreign languages such as Greek and Hebrew. This item was chosen as cawdry's time saw develoment in many areas and Cawdry sought to organize the language -
Dictionary of the English Language
Published in 1755, each of the 40,000 words were defined and included illustrations and quotations. In comparison the French Dictionnarre had taken 55 years next to Johnson’s 6 and 40 scholars to Johnson and six helpers. He was meant to stabilize language’s rules, but the author saw that this was impossible.This item was chosen as it was a huge scholarly achievement and the most extensive and complex of its time. -
A Grammatical Institute of the English Language
Webster the “Blue-Backed Speller”, nick named so for its cover color, in 1783. The book taught children to read, spell and pronounce words and Webster wrote it because he felt that American students should learn from American books. The work was worked in three parts and included “The American Spelling Book”, a grammar book and a reader. While not necessarily a dictionary, the Blue-Backed Speller started Webster on his work in dictionaries and so was added to this list. -
Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
Published in 1785, Francis Grose's dictionary contains slang words. Grose was one of the first to collect such words even and includes more ordinary slang such as “sheepish” for bashful and “carrots” for red hair. To collect these words, Grose and his assistant took walks at night adding the words they learned to their list. While it may not seem so, Grose’s collection was recognized through the 19th century as one of the most important slang collections and that’s why it's been included. -
School Dictionary; Being a Compendium of the Latest and Most Improved Dictionaries
While most believe that the first American dictionary was Webster’s, there was one that appeared eight years before in 1798. Samuel Johnson Jr. (no relation to the previous Samuel Johnson ironically) wrote his School Dictionary; Being a Compendium of the Latest and Most Improved Dictionaries. The misconception that Webster was before Johnson Jr. is a heavy topic with lexicographers. Because this title is so little known yet holds such a place in history is why I’ve chosen to add this dictionary. -
A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language
Published in 1806, this made Webster the father of American English. Americans had started to speak different words now and he wished to help people speak and spell the same way across the country. He used American spellings like color instead of colour and music instead of musick. He also added American words like skunk and squash were also among the 37,000 words. This was Webster’s first actual dictionary and became the defining dictionary of the American language and so is added to the list. -
Oxford English Dictionary
The Philological Society of London decided in 1857 that English dictionaries were incomplete. They started the project in 1858, named A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles. Instead of the planned 6400 pages in four volumes it contained over 400,000 words and phrases in ten volumes, the last volume was published in April 1928. The Dictionary was published under the name A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles and was, and is, considered the ultimate authority on the language
