Copiously annotated

Bailey, Nathan

Mr. Nathan Bailey's English dictionary, shewing both the orthography and the orthoepia of that tongue ... translated into German and improved, as also added an appendix not onely [sic] of such words as are not of so general in use ... by Theodore Arnold.

Leipzig: printed for the heir of the late Mr. Gross, 1736-39. First German edition of Bailey and one of the rarest of all Bailey dictionaries; 2 volumes in 1 (English-German, and German-English), 8vo, pp. [18], unpaginated lexicon in double column, [2], [78], [32]; [2], unpaginated lexicon in double column (collated complete), engraved portrait frontispiece of Bailey by [Johann Christoph] Sysang laid down and with the ownership (?) signature in the bottom margin of "Bielenberg," German and English title pages in the first volume, German title only in the second volume (as issued); contemporary full calf, elaborate gilt-decorated border on covers, the whole cracked, rubbed, worn, the front cover almost loose, the spine separated, but the binding structure is sound. Frankly, a lousy copy, but a most interesting one as well. On the recto and verso of the front flyleaf are approximately 80 lines of notes in a small but readable hand, ca. 1759 in German, English, and French, by one who appears to be a native German speaker, on other dictionaries, notably Serenius's An English and Swedish dictionary (1757), those of Junius, Menage, and Boyer's Dictionare royale (1727), etc., and quoting extensively from Mr. Boyer's "advertisement" regarding usage and its influence over the French and the English vocabularies. Furthermore, the first volume has many hundreds of words underlined, and there are copious annotations in the margins for about 200 words, 100 of which are more substantial, generally amplifying meaning, primarily in English, but also French, and to a lesser extent German. A German translation, with the addition of a German vocabulary, of the second iteration of Bailey's The Universal Etymological Dictionary of 1727 which "enjoyed a separate publishing existence" (Alston). Entry words in English in the first volume, with equivalents variously in English, French, and German. The appendix at the back is "added, for the most part, from Mr. Thomas Dyche's Spelling Dictionary." The second volume with German entries and English equivalents only. Interestingly, no English edition of Bailey contained a portrait and the portrait only appears in German editions. Bookplate of E[manuel] E[mory] Straus (1878-1956), president of the Courier-Journal Job Printing Company, Louisville, Kentucky, which was organized by his father August "Gus" Straus (1855-1912) in 1888. This copy emanates from this family and has not previously been on the market. Alston XIII, 31. Item #58673

Price: $3,300.00