The first systematic etymology of the English language - this copy uncut!
Francisci Junii Francisci filii Etymologicum Anglicanum ex autographo descripsit & accessionibus permultis aictum edidit Edwardus Lye …praemittuntur vita auctoris et grammatica Anglo-Saxonica
Oxonii: E Theatro Sheldoniano, 1743. First edition, folio, pp. [40], [624]; collating A-E², a-e², A-6S², engraved portrait frontispiece by G. Vertu, 8-page subscriber list containing many important names of the day; contemporary marbled boards, with a neat, 20th-century rebacking in calf, red morocco label; a very nice copy, internally very clean. A rare, uncut copy. Junius was an early proponent for the study of Anglo-Saxon, and a life-long student of the Teutonic and northern languages. His collection of northern types, which included Gothic, Runic, and Anglo-Saxon, was bequeathed to Oxford University. These types were used in the printing of this book, which was edited by Edward Lye from the unpublished manuscript. It is the first systematic etymology of the English language, and a major source for Samuell Johnson in the compilation of his Dictionary of the English Language. Alston V, 354; Zaunmuller, p. 115; Graesse III, p. 499. Item #64332
Price: $2,000.00
