old-dictionaries

[old-dictionaries]

"Popular Illustrated Dictionary of History, Geography, Biography, Technology, Mythology, Antiquities, Fine Arts and Literature," by Edmond Alonnier & Joseph December (1863)

Status: Public Domain

[old-dictionaries]

Old dictionaries reveal a great deal about how history actually unfolded, how a people and nation defined concepts in the past and how our communication around such concepts has changed, since.

My Grandmother had some very old dictionaries from her Grandparents and my Grandfather collected old Webster and Merriam-Webster dictionaries for historical reference and with his Libertarian bent, he’d sit me down and show me “…how ‘authorities’ control presentation of historical information and documents or outright, lie to you, be prepared for that…” and explain how dictionaries can be used as a check against tyranny.

I was five years old, when he sat me down and told me that 🤣.

It left a lifelong impression.

Don’t discard your old, paper reference books! Virtual is convenient but is actually more ephemeral than old paper. It can be gone in an instant by will or by obsolescence. (This is a reprint with additions from a different publisher but it has great color illustrations)

[old-dictionaries]

This 1912 dictionary has reference pages for well known characters from plays and prose, as well as notable battles from history:

[old-dictionaries]

I bought this book at a flea market in Normandy, France. It’s a 1888 french/german dictionary with a handwritten signature, a date and a belgian stamp. The name is Joseph Meyer with a date “December 1889”. As a huge antique book lover, I was immediately attracted to this book and I want to know more about it. If someone has information or if someone has a Joseph Meyer in their family tree, feel free to send me a message

[old-dictionaries]

From the 1912 dictionary I’d posted from, before:

[old-dictionaries]

And this two-volume beefmaster is the compact version of the OED

[old-dictionaries]

various pictures and handwritten notes from the 1890s websters primary school dictionary

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aough

[id: a passage from page 12 of the book English Critical Essays (XIX cent.) by Edmund D. Jones. it reads "not necessarily differing even degree; Poetry[1] sheds no tears 'such as Angels weep', but natural and human tears; she can boast of no celestial ichor that distinguishes her vital juices from those of prose; the same human blood circulates through the veins of them both." end id]

[old-dictionaries]

thy'la-cine, n. [gr. thylax, a pouch, and kyon, a dog.] a carnivorous marsupial, thylacinus cynocephalus, inhabiting Tasmania: it is fierce and somewhat like a dog in appearance, but with dark stripes on the back: it is about extinct: also called tasmanian tiger, tasmanian wolf

from my websters new unabridged deluxe dictionary. the use of it is about extinct is weird to me? this dictionary was published in the 80s, by then, they would have been extinct for over 40 years, so im not sure what theyre talking about there. i miss them </3

[old-dictionaries]

old 1907 dictionary in the Seldovia visitor center and museum, alaska

[old-dictionaries]

doodles and notes found in the websters common school dictionary, 1890s

[old-dictionaries]

I’m going through and taking pictures of some illustrations in the Websters New Universal Dictionary, second deluxe edition, published in the 1980s. I worked on it for about 45 minutes today, got a ton of pictures--there’s an illustration of so many dog breeds, it’s adorable!--and my back hurts so much from sitting how I did.

Here’s how far I’ve gone, I started today so this is just one day of going through.

That’s 708 pages done, 1,596 to go! Next post will likely be a compilation of dog breed illustrations from this book.

[old-dictionaries]

images of “supplement to a standard dictionary of the english language” - funk and waggles - 1903

Gorgeous illustrations in this one, thought I’d share them. The ones that have a credit are credited to H. Benno Reissman. Enjoy!