minsheu john (5 Ergebnisse)

Minsheu, John (1560-1627). Hegemon eis tas glossas [in Greek], id est, ductor in linguas, the guide into tongues . . . [16], 543, [193]pp.; separate subscription leaf ("A catalogue and true note of the names of such persons . . .") laid in. London: John Brown, 1617. 400 x 257 mm. Calf ca. 1617, British royal coat of arms stamped in gilt on both covers, moderate wear. Marginal repair to a few leaves, margins of first and last leaves a bit frayed, occasional dampstaining, subscription leaf with some soiling and marginal fraying and one small repair, but very good. Engraved armorial bookplate of Thomas Stapleton; modern bookplate. First Edition, with the very rare single leaf of subscribers laid in (STC 17944a, variant 6, including the names of Francis Bacon and John Donne). Minsheu's Ductor in linguas was the first book published by advance subscription using a printed prospectus, and the first book to include a list of subscribers. Minsheu worked for twenty years to produce this massive polyglot dictionary, which translates English words into Welsh, Dutch, German, French, Italian, Spanish Portuguese, Latin, Greek and Hebrew and gives their etymologies. The author's two decades of labor on his dictionary coincide with the last fifteen years of Shakespeare's career and thus provides a valuable record of the language of the period. There is no doubt that the Ductor in linguas is a monumental work. No less impressive than the title are the size and the contents of this volume. On more than 500 closely printed folio pages English lemmata are followed by their etymologies and their equivalents in ten other languages, "British or Welsh, Low Dutch, High Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguez, Latine, Greeke, Hebrew." In addition to Roman, black letter, and italics, the favorite triad around 1600, the compositors were also required to use Greek, Hebrew, and Anglo-Saxon letters. Long and learned prefaces in Latin and in English introduce the work, and there are two commendatory certificates, one by the University of Oxford and another by some of the leading scholars of the day. Both of these certificates are dated from the end of 1610 when the work had apparently been in progress for several years. In addition, a list of purchasers contains illustrious names from the court, as well as the study. Throughout his introductions Minsheu stresses the number of collaborators and the amount of time and money invested in the enterprise, and the extent of his labor seems stupendous. Learned etymologies, definitions, multilingual equivalents, illustrative quotations, and precise bibliographic references crowd the pages, and the fact that the work was published at all may be more noteworthy than the many years of preparation (Schäfer, p. 24). Although some scholars disputed whether Minsheu actually issued the first edition of his dictionary by subscription, the survival of a single copy of the book's 1611 prospectus-preserved at the Bodleian Library-proves that he did. John Feather, who reproduced this unique document in his English Book Prospectuses (1984), regarded Minsheu's Ductor in linguas as "the first subscription book, and John Minsheu himself as the pioneer, and for all practical purposes the inventor, of the book prospectus" (Feather, p. 28). Schäfer, "John Minsheu, scholar or charlatan," Renaissance Quarterly 26 (1973): 23-35. .

Hardcover. Zustand: Very Good. Folio. pp. [viii] 391, [viii] 84, [iv] 68. Three works in one, separate t-p to each. Roman, italic, and black letter, all titles with woodcut device. Red leather gilt bookplate of W. A. Foyle to front pastedown and armorial bookplate of Algernon Capell, Earl of Essex 1701 to verso of t-p. Woodcut initials to prelim, some woodcut foliate ornaments, woodcut ruled tables throughout, very slight age yellowing, a few upper edges a bit dusty. Occasional marginal spot, very small light stain to 4 ll. with loss of few letters on Aa4, tiny rust stain to L3. First t-p dusty, outer margin short. A very handsome, well-margined copy in blind-stamped calf with ornate floral motifs, dark and light panelling, gilt armorial emblem of Algernon Capell to cover, gilt spine, joints restored, edges sprinkled red. A very good edition of the first significant Spanish-English dictionary and English language Spanish grammar, appearing for the first time here with Minsheu's Pleasant and Delightfull Dialogues. The former two works were originally paired by Percival in his 'Bibliotheca Hispanica' of 1591, for which much of the preliminary work was completed by Dr Thomas D'Oylie (c. 1548-1603) of St Bartholomew's, brother-in-law of Francis Bacon and acolyte of Robert Dudley. Percival (1550-1620) was a politician and scholar of Spanish whose extravagance and choice of wife catalysed his disinheritance by his father. He lived only four years in Spain, with any prospect of return dashed by the onset of war, but made himself useful during the conflict as a negotiator, interrogation interpreter, and translator of secret documents, which included packets containing the first sure intelligence of the forthcoming Armada. He was later secretary to Robert Cecil and went on to hold a range of courtly and parliamentary positions. Minsheu (1560-1627), who greatly expanded Percival's work, was an impoverished lexicographer whose own writings saw publication only thanks to the patronage of his wealthier friends. The comprehensive grammar section commences with an interesting list of general observations, showing the evolution of 'modern' Spanish words from the earlier Latin, and Minsheu's dialogues contain phrases from Spanish texts popular in late C16 England. Although the works are now more commonly found separately, they should ideally be together, as here. This edition has passed through the libraries of Algernon Capell (1670-1710), 2nd Earl of Essex and Privy Counsellor to Queen Anne, and William Alfred Westropp Foyle (1885-1963), co-founder of Foyles bookshop, "The People's Bookshop". Foyle owned of one of the largest English private libraries of the 20th century, at Beeleigh Abbey, whose contents became the single most valuable collection of books ever sold at auction, by Christies in July 2000. STC 19620 & 19622, Lowndes 1829, Palau 218227 & 171187. \"Greatly expanded version . including additional vocabulary relating to American terms\". Alden A599/4.

First Edition. First edition, folio, pp. [16], 543, [1]; [188], title within woodcut border, text in double and quadruple column, with the separately paginated Vocabularium Hispanico Latinum et Anglicanum bound in with a separate title page at the back; contemporary full calf, neatly rebacked, morocco label on spine; a few spots and stains, and several short tears entering from the margins; a very good copy of the preferred first edition, which included two languages, Welsh and Portuguese, dropped from all later editions. This copy with the variant Vocabularium Hispanico title page, with the imprint reading: ". vendibiles extant Londini apud [blank] and are to be sold at [blank]." The blanks are sometimes filled in in MS, but not in this copy. Other copies have the reading: ". vendibiles extant Londini apud Ioannem Browne biliopolam in vico vocato little Brittaine. And are to be sold at Iohn Brownes shoppe a bookebinder in little Brittaine in London." "This great lexicon is of great value as a dictionary of Elizabethan English; it is also in all probability the first English book printed by subscription" (DNB). The separately-issued subscriber's list is not present with this copy, however. Alston II, 103; STC 17944; Vancil, p. 165.

pp. (iv), A6 - Ii4. 8vo in 6's. Full, modern, contemporary style calf. N6 bottom corner torn away, very slightly affecting the text. Small library stamp on front free endpaper. 2nd edition.

First Edition. First edition, folio, [16], 543, [1], [187]; title within woodcut border, text in double and quadruple column; handsome 18th century full reversed calf with a nice, large blindstamped central panel; maroon morocco label on spine; a very good, sound copy, with an early ownership signture on the title page of "Thos. Hooper," and later from the library of Lord Malmesbury with his note of acquisition on the front free endpaper dated 1796, and likely bound for him; he may have been the one to decide to remove the Spanish dictionary which was issued at the end of this work (old STC 17949; and subsequently deleted from the new STC as a separate work). Twentieth-century bookplate of the Johnsonian, Lindsay Fleming. The preferred first edition, which included two languages, Welsh and Portuguese, dropped from all later editions. "This great lexicon is of great value as a dictionary of Elizabethan English; it is also in all probability the first English book printed by subscription" (DNB). The separately-issued subscriber's list is not present with this copy, as usual, but a photocopy is laid in. Vancil, p. 165; Alston II, 103; STC 17944.