Small Dictionaries and Curiosity: Lexicography and Fieldwork in Post-Medieval Europe . By J ohn C onsidine . Small Dictionaries and Curiosity: Lexicography and Fieldwork in Post-Medieval Europe . By ConsidineJohn. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2017. xii + 321 pp. £65. isbn 978 0 19 878501 9.

Abstract

This excellent book follows on from and complements John Considine's two earlier books on European dictionaries, Dictionaries in Earley Modern Europe (2008) and Academy Dictionaries, 1600–1800 (2014). In a Conclusion, ‘Writing the History of Lexicography’ (pp. 237–41), Considine offers some thoughtful generalizations about the field in which he is a leading figure. This third volume meets the high standards set by its predecessors, covering different ground but filling in part of the same overall story; the trilogy makes an eminently worthwhile set. Small Dictionaries is, however, different from its predecessors in subject-matter and organization. To quote the publisher's blurb, ‘It tells a story that has not been told before: that of the first European wordlists of minority and unofficial languages, from the end of the Middle Ages to the early nineteenth century’. The challenge was to present a wide range of material—more than 40 language varieties—while bringing out general themes and interconnections. Considine has met the challenge in 28 short chapters, making it easy for the reader to work through the book, while the constant use of linking and generalizing comments builds a larger story from the individual case-studies. The chapters are also nicely varied according to need—so for example Edward Lhuyd's pioneering research on Celtic languages receives an extended treatment (Chapters 14–16), while John Ray and his friends are also considered in depth (Chapters 11–12). The obscurity of some of the languages discussed underlines the breadth of Considine's treatment: they include Arin, Chuvash, Crimean Gothic, Dragwa, Lak, and Mordvin. The appendix on languages (pp. 243–65) is a very useful reference resource, especially given the wide range of languages Considine covers and how little is known of some of them.