dictionaries i have known

[adelaidesean]

I was talking to someone recently about dictionaries. I can't remember who. Probably another writer. Who else would get involved in such a conversation? Willingly, I mean.

Anyway, the point of the conversation (if not the details) stuck with me and made me wonder just how many books I owned with the word "dictionary" in the title. The answer is "fifteen", and they are:

Abingdon Dictionary of Living Religions (1981)
21st Century Dictionary of Slang (Princeton Language Institute, 1994)
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable (1996)
Collins English Dictionary (1998)
Dictionary of Angels (Davidson, 1967)
Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons (Lurker, 1988)
Dictionary of Mysticism and the Occult (Drury, 1985)
Dictionary of Saints (Delaney, 1982)
Dictionary of Symbols (Liungman, 1991)
Dictionary of the Bible (Hastings, 2nd edition, 1963)
Harvard Dictionary of Music (1973)
Home Study Dictionary
Illustrated Dictionary of Architecture (Burden, 2002)
Penguin Dictionary of Clichés (Cresswell, 2000)
Penguin Dictionary of Symbols (1996)

A fair number, I guess, and most of them have been well-thumbed. I'm on the look-out for more, now. The Internet is wonderful for word and phrase searches, but for creative browsing, where random encounters can trigger all sorts of new ideas, nothing I've yet come across beats a paper book.

PS. The date of the Home Study Dictionary eludes me, but it must be from the late 50s or 60s because the price written in the front is pre-decimal and my father's ex libris stamp is on the first page. It might seem a little strange keeping an out-of-date dictionary around, but it's come in very handy down the years, particular its sections on "Forms of Address used in Ceremonious Communications with Persons of Title or Official Position" and "Words, Phrases and Noteworthy Sayings, from the Latin, the Greek, and Modern European Languages, met with in Current Literature". Messages from another age.

Comments

[strangedave.livejournal.com]

An out of date dictionary seems a perfectly reasonable thing for a writer to have.

I am a bit of a sucker for references works, and I have quite a few of the above or similar. I'm an even more likely to buy anything that says 'Encyclopaedia of '. I mean, how can you go past something called the Encyclopaedia of Occult and Supernatural Murder?

[ladnews.livejournal.com]

how can you go past something called the Encyclopaedia of Occult and Supernatural Murder?

I don't believe I did. It's on my reference shelf, somewhere.

In fact, I'm very glad the conversation wasn't about encyclopediae, otherwise the list would've been much longer...

[(Anonymous)]

See, now I'm jealous. You have some that I could possibly hurt others for,(not you Sean, you're a Gemini & I know too many that would hunt me down *lol*). I spoilt myself when working at the uni library for years. I had access to all types of goodies..........kinda ;)

Have you read The Surgeon of Crowthorne? It's quite a fascinating story/biography about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary. (I so hope I have that right, teaching doesn't leave my synapses in working order). Very interesting process, especially since the full 20 (or is it 21) volume dictionary was first created sans computers etc.

I only hope they never die as a book form in their own right.

Nicky

[ladnews.livejournal.com]

only hope they never die as a book form in their own right.

As much as I love the idea of electronic books, I second this completely.

Haven't read Surgeon but you've reminded me that I wanted to. Thanks, Nicky. For not hurting me, too. :-)

[stevewilson.livejournal.com]

My favourites are the '1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue' and 'A Short Dictionary of Furniture'.

[ladnews.livejournal.com]

Excellent! Thanks. I'll track them down. Anything with the word "vulgar" in the title has immediate appeal. :-)

[stevewilson.livejournal.com]

You can read the vulgar one online here:

http://www.fromoldbooks.org/Grose-VulgarTongue/

It's full of great old English slang, like 'deadly nevergreen' for the gallows, which bear fruit all year round.

That same site has the 1736 Canting Dictionary and more.

[ladnews.livejournal.com]

That is absolutely brilliant. I'd love to have an original. Thanks for the heads-up.

The original title of the vulgar dictionary (Dictionary For Jesters) reminds me of a dictionary I could have listed, even though it doesn't have the word "dictionary" on the cover. It's a very old, very small, leather-bound tome designed I presume to fit into a schoolboy's pocket. On the front is something very much like "Kan Yu Zpell? Iff Knot, Here Is A Spelling Book". (I don't have it to hand just now so can't be entirely sure, but that's the gist of it.) Being a schoolboy myself when I inherited it, one of the first things I did was look up the rude words. There were none, but "masturbation" was present. The entire definition, obviously designed to strike fear in the heart of any young lad, was just "self-abuse".

[stevewilson.livejournal.com]

According to biblioz.com, you can get a 1971 edition for $21...

[murasaki-1966.livejournal.com]

I was talking to someone recently about dictionaries. I can't remember who. Probably another writer. Who else would get involved in such a conversation? Willingly, I mean

What about a librarian? I'll talk about dictionaries forever...

Actually, between us, jack_ryder and I have a lot of reference works, including two Brewers' Phrase and Fable (fascimle copy of the orginal edition, and a current one) four varieties of The OED (inc. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on historical principles 2 volumes, discarded by a law firm I was working for at the time), several other dictionaries, two medical dictionaries, and a dictionary of demons, not to mention all the various stuff on religion, ethics, sociology. etc. Now if I could get them all in the same place so I could use them......

[ladnews.livejournal.com]

Good thinking re librarians. That could indeed have been the case.

I love the sound of your reference library. The best I've ever seen, though, belonged to George Lucas, in Skywalker Ranch. *drool*

[murasaki-1966.livejournal.com]

You're welcome to look at it anytime you visit Sydney. Unfortunately, most of it is in boxes. Next year's three big projects are: 1/get new computer 2/ sort out the books 3/do Patrcia Wrightson website. Buying more bookshelves is part of 2.

Does George Lucas have a copy of The Hero with a Thousand Faces? I've always wanted to know. I wonder if the library you saw is the same one Joseph Campbell was interviewed in on The Power of Myth TV series?

[gloripebbles.livejournal.com]

One of the things Damon & I plan on doing when we renovate the house is transform the current 'study' into a floor to ceiling library space. I only hope I can hijack a good amount to a non fiction style space (the Dr Who stuff is considerably large...though most is currently in storage heehee). Was eerie, when we merged book collections, there were hardly any doubles :o

Oh all those reference books I can lash out and acquire. I'm a sucker for anything on mythologies et al.

Nicky
Yes I signed up by my signature name - got tired of being anon. (I'll eventually work out some merged images.)

[mireille21.livejournal.com]

Hi Sean, Alison here, fiddling with my flist.
Incidentally, my favoured dictionary (that I own) is a 1959 Webster. At over 2000 pages (and a mere half tonne it seems) it's a dog pack killer, wonderful colour plates, old words and terms (like POSH) and a sentimental favourite, being that my grandmother used it to help her learn to read. That, and Alice in Wonderland, which is now also in my care. Ciao.

[ladnews.livejournal.com]

Hi Alison

Thanks for dropping by. :-)

I didn't realise that "posh" was such an outdated word. I use it all the time. Could it be I'm getting old?

Gosh.

[mireille21.livejournal.com]

Heh, old. I'm still recovering from some 17/18-yr-old trying to pick me up on the weekend, and my first thought being, 'Shouldn't you ask your mother if it's OK to come outside and play first?'. Since when did I start to see teenagers as 'boys'? *sigh*

POSH - from the acronym for "Port Out, Starboard Home." referring to the traditional choice of best cabin on the ship by wealthy passengers. Still makes me snicker when I think of the possible implications for Posh Spice.

[ladnews.livejournal.com]

Hee hee. I think I'd run screaming if a 17 year-old girl hit on me now. (Why weren't they doing that when *I* was 17? ) And thanks for the translation re POSH. I'd never heard that before.

Posh Spice frightens me. Brr.