Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English [2 volumes] by Wright, Thomas Esq., M.A., F.S.A., H.M.R.S - Gale Reprint Edition

Henry G. Bohn, London; 1857/ Republished by Gale Research Company, Detroit, MI, Gale Reprint Edition. Hardcover. Fiine. "Some seven centuries ago, two distinct languages were spoken throughout England, the Anglo-Saxon, which was that of our Teutonic forefathers... and the Anglo-Norman, one of the Neo-Latin family of tongues, which was brought in by the Norman conquest. For some time, these two languages remained perfectly distinct... It was not until the thirteenth century... that an intermixture of the two languages began to take place. [A] very large portion of English literature... would be totally unintelligible... [and] would present continual difficulties, without a dictionary especially devoted to the obsolete words of our language."" [Preface] ""Words from the English writers previous to the nineteenth century which are no longer in use, or are not used in the same sense. And words that are now used in the provincial dialects."" [Title page] Two volumes totaling 1039 pages.