Pocket Dictionary of the French and English Languages (1774)

Nugent, Thomas: The New Pocket Dictionary of the French and English Languages.

In Two Parts. I. French and English. II. English and French. Containing all words of general use, and authorized by the best writers. As also distinguishing the several parts of speech, with the gender of nouns in the French language. To which are added, the accents of the English words for the use of Foreigners, and an alphabetical list of the most common Christian names, with their...

The Second Edition greatly improved... London: for Edward and Charles Dilly, 1774.

"Thomas Nugent’s (c.1700-1772) New Pocket Dictionary - “for the use of Schools and private Gentlemen” - was published by Charles and Edward Dilly on Thursday 13th August 1767 prices at 3s “bound and clasped” (see the advertisement in the London Evening Post). Nugent explains the advantage of this compact dictionary in his preface: “by the smallness of its size the following repository of words is become portable to Learners of both Languages [English and French], by which means they can have an easier recourse to it, so often as anything occurs in conversation or reading, with which they are unacquainted. The smallness of the size renders it also of easy purchase, and proper on that accounts in Schools, where Dictionaries of large bulk an expense are become a burden” (A2r). On the composition of the dictionary he notes that, “recourse has been had to the best Dictionaries, French and English, particularly to that of the Royal Academy, which is justly looked upon as the Standard of the French tongue; yet we have take the liberty to insert a few words not adopted by that learned body, where the particular energy of force of expression, seemed to justify the use (A2v). Nugent’s dictionary was repeatedly re-printed into the 20th-century (Alston records a fiftieth edition in 1882 and a London edition of 1990).

All of the early editions are scarce."

Fra en tidligere beskrivelse fra Maggs antikvariat i Storbritannia.

Samme utgave (1774) ble brukt som kodebok mellom Thomas Jefferson og James Madison: http://cryptiana.web.fc2.com/code/jeffersn.htm

Selges kr 700,-

Kan hentes i Oslo eller sendes mot forhåndsbetaling + porto.