OLIN '• PE 279 .B94 1 T54 1864a LIBRARY ANNEX I 1 r I > gg | T\ Cornell University ^^^jj£ Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924073448858 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LISRARV 3 1924 073 448 858 FEW EEMAEKS IN DEFENCE OF DR BOSWORTH, AND HIS ANGLO-SAXON DICTIONARIES. BY C. B. THURSTON, B.A. F.S.A. &c. MAOMILLAN AND CO. PUBLISHERS TO THE UKIVERSITY OF OXFORD 1S64 6 L I <^J -nSlpp \.3 N'^^'-A ^^ OXFOKIJ T. COMBE, M.A., E. PICKAUU HALL, AND II. LATHAM, M. A. PEIKTEBS TO THE UNIVERSITY A FEW REMARKS IN DEFENCE OF DR. BOSWORTH'S SAXON DICTIONARIES. To many this pamphlet will appear to be un- necessary, for they will think that the literary fame of the Professor of Anglo-Saxon is sufficiently established to withstand the charges made against it, which are as unfair as they are unprovoked. In so thinking, they will think rightly. But there arises a wider question than any affecting only an individual, however eminent. Are personal attacks, with no other foundation than an imaginary dis- cover^' of errors, to be put forward as reliable criticism, and is scholarship to be degraded by the unworthy use of reckless assertion ? To such questions this pamphlet answers — No. It does not pretend to be exhaustive; but it is believed it Avill be found amply sufficient for its purpose. It is limited to a statement of facts, and on them I rely. I hasten at once to a plain detail of these facts, and of the cause of my ente]"ing upon the subject. B 2 4 A Few Rmnarks in Defenct of A week or two ago, some friends informed Dr. Bosworth that a pamphlet was in preparation by a Mr. Cockayne against his Anglo-Saxon Dictionaries, and suggested it would be prudent " to come to terms with him." On inquiring who was this Mr. Cockayne, and what was meant by " coming to terms," it was ascertained that Mi-. Oswald Cockayne is one of the Under-Masters of King's College School, London, and the " coming to terms " meant in effect, that he should be admitted joint or chief editor, — have his name on the title, and be hand- somely paid for his services, otherwise the pamphlet would be printed and sent to all the Reviews, and to men of influence in Oxford and London. If properly offered, assistance would have been ac- cepted and remunerated ; but the threat made it impossible to take any notice of the proposition, which, however, clearly indicated the animus of the whole affair. Shortty afterwards a proof-sheet of Mr. Cockayne's pamphlet was received by post. From its per- sonalities, its Avant of accuracy as to dates and assertions, with a passage expunged by his own pen, it Avas not thought possible that he would A'enture to publish it. For these reasons, and from the greatest reluctance to be employed in the hateful task of exposing the errors of any man. Dr. Bos\vorth was determined not to notice it. One great inducement for silence was the style and spirit of the whole pamphlet, which appeared a suf- ficient answer, especially in Oxford, where the hioh Dr. BosworiKs Saxon Dictionaries. 5 tone of gentlemanly feeling, which pervades the whole University, cannot endure such assumptions and personalities ; he therefore let the matter rest. When I saw the pamphlet, I thought a short and temperate reply was desirable, and obtained per- mission from the Professor to answer it, with the use of his notes. In my reply I must necessarily enter into some dry details, and state facts which are far from pleasant, but I hope to do it free from that spirit which pervades Mr. Cockayne's pamphlet. Dr. Bosworth began to read Anglo-Saxon MSS. at an early age, and spent much time in the Libraries of Cambridge, of Oxford, and of London. At the British Museum he transcribed from, the Anglo-Saxon MSS. all the passages which his old friend, Sharon Turner, translated and incor- porated into his works. Large collections were then made for his proposed Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, on which he was employed for seven years: it was four years in the press, and was published in 1838. This does not look much like copying from Grimm, Kemble, and Thorpe, as Mr. Cockayne imagines. After his publication of 1838, he continued to collect materials for a Compendious Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. This is not an abridgement of its larger predecessor. It contains the substance of the larger book, without the etymologies, but with the addition of, at least, one fourth more words, which the compendious form of the dic- tionary enabled him to incorporate. I believe G A Few Ramavks in Defence of he was the first to note the inflections of nouns and verbs upon a regular system. Such con- fidence had the publisher in his accuracy, that all the sheets Avere stereotyped as they were corrected, and the plates of more than half the work were finished in 1843, and the end of the alphabet was reached in 1845 ; but the preface, from illness and failing sight, was not written till 1848 ; in which year it was published, and not in 1855, as Mr. Cockayne so repeatedh^ asserts. What then becomes of the following calculation and his personal allusions ? " Whether Dr. Bosworth "be likely to produce anything satisfactoiy, may "be plainly seen by the progress he has made in " Saxon learning since the publication of his large " dictionary ; and this is patent to all mens eyes (?) " in his ' Compendious Anglo-Saxon and English "Dictionary, 1855.' [1845]. If we have means of " measuring the quantum, or rather the quantillum " of knowledge which he got into his head (1) in " seventeen years, between 1838 and 1855 [in seven years, between 1838 and 1845, in u-hich seven years there was an addition of words exceeding by one quarter those in the larger boolc], " Ave shall be "able to form some notion how much more has "been laid up in nine" [nineteen]. If the number of words increased more than one fourth in seren years, how much, by the same industry, must they have increased in nineteen ? 1 know, from personal examination, that they have so accu- mulated, and the corrections are so numerous Dr. Bosworth's Saxon DicUonaries. 7 as to make the larger Dictionary almost a new work. Thei-e can be no doubt as to the accuracy of the preceding dates, for those which relate to the Compendious Dictionary are taken from the proof sheets, on which the day and year of their correction are clearly written. It is, however, not improbable that there may have been pub- lishers' reprints, from the stereotype plates bearing a later date than 1848 ; but this might, and ought to have been ascertained before founding serious charges upon a supposed date. At all events, it is clear that Mr. Cockayne was so little acquainted with Anglo-Saxon literature and biblio- graphy in the year 1855, as not to know that this Compendious Dictionary was published in 1848. This fact proves two things :— In the first place, that he was hasty to fix a date, without examination, and then to build unfounded charges upon this wrong date ; and, in the second, that his Anglo- Saxon studies have not been close, nor minute, nor of long duration, not having commenced be- fore 1855, and perhaps some years later. His time, therefore, limited as it is by his scholastic duties, would leave very little opportunity for a careful reading of the numerous MSS. in the British Museum, exclusive of those in Oxford and Cambridge. For simplicity of arrangement, facility of refer- ence, and for the quantity of matter in a short space, an appeal may be made to every un- 8 A Few Remarks in Defence of prejudiced and honest man, if the Compendious Dictionary be not the best and most practical up to the present time. Wlien a few corrections are made, with additions now in preparation, I believe it will continue to be what it now is, — all that is required in a handbook of re- ference. The Dictionaries prepared since 1848 are by Professor Ettmiiller and Dr. Grein. The foraier, iu his Lexicon Anglo-Saxonicum of 1851, has fol- lowed Dr. Bosworth's plan of noting the inflections, and of grouping whole classes of words together ; but, as he has rejected the common alphabetical order, his book is of little practical utility. Then, as to the admirable and honest work of Dr. Grein, now in course of publication, though there are many new words introduced, and the gen- ders are carefully given, the principal pai-ts of the verb must be sought amidst the numerous authorities. So much for Mr. Cockayne's depreciation of the Compendious Dictionary and his confusion of dates. How little reliance can be placed on the assertion that the Professor had not even read the Gospels may be known hj another fact : — The IMoeso-Gothic and Anglo-Saxon Gospels were most carefully tran- scribed for the press, and he had collated the latter, with the Corpus MS. at Cambridge, long before Mr. Thorpe's Gospels appeared in 1 842. The Gothic and Anglo-Saxon Gospels are now in the Oxford University Pi-esS; with tlie addition of Wycliflfe's Dr. Boswortlis Saxon Dictionaries. 9 and Tyndale's versions, verse for verse, in parallel columns *. These facts ma}"^ show the impossibilit}'^ of de- pending upon the assertions as to the preparation of Dr. Bosworth's Dictionaries, — the date ^a hen the Compendious Dictionary was published, and the knowledge of the Gospels, Let us now take a general view of Mr. Cockayne's supposed discovery of errors. He appears to be un- able to rise above the consideration of genders and conjugations. A glance at his pamphlet will show its prominent features : — Dr. Bosworth " has learnt " nothing about the gender or declension." " Oii what " system did Dr. Bosworth mark his genders ? " " The " perusal of so common a book as the Gospels was " not one of his methods." The facts as to the Gos- pels have been already stated : the other will soon follow. My object is first to take a general view of Mr. Cockayne's pamphlet. The laudation of self, and the depreciation of others, is the prevailing feature of what he has written. He calls Bopp and Pott, and their erudite countrymen, "an army of German fanatics;" m * This work is not only important to divines, but most in- teresting to philologists ; as English may thus be easily traced from Tyndale's Version of 1526, up to Wycliffe's of 1.389, to the Anglo-Saxon of 995, and the Gothic of 360. The printing has been lono- delayed, with the hope of removing some doubts by the photographic copy of Ulphilas, promised by Dr. F. A. Leo ; but as it has not appeared, Uppstrom's facsimile of the Code.K Ar- "■ent^us has been adopted for the Gothic text lO A Few Kemarks in Defence of and he says Dr. Bosworth " may do very well for a professor — "an enterprising professor;" — "but he has not done his duty." — ^Mr. Cockayne applied privately to supersede the arrangement with the University to print the Anglo-Saxon Dictionary ; but an hon- ourable man could not be influenced : he therefore determined to " make his voice to be heard " by the whole University — to bring himself into notice by raising animated and angry discussions upon " Dr. Bosworth and his Saxon Dictionary." I be- lieve the University will smile at that attempt, as Dr. Bosworth does, — an attempt which shows Mr. Cockayne's want both of judgment and critical power. First, as to judgment, in supposing that he could influence the University of Oxford ; then, that he is able to criticise a book which he has never seen, and of which he knows nothing. Let us now consider his power of criticism. In a very grave tone and manner, and in legal style, he draws up against the Professor an indictment of thirty-four counts. Eighteen of these relate to the genders of nouns, leaving sixteen counts. Then thirteen of these sixteen cannot be reckoned as counts, because they are his thirteen charges against the Professor that he had not read books, and made extracts from them, years before they were published, and before some of them ivere in the press, or even in existence! These thirteen counts, being nullified by the confusion of dates, must be taken from the sixteen : so there remain only three counts. Dr. Boswurtlis Saxon Dictionaries. H If we confine our attention to the Compendious Dictionary, the case is simply tliis: — From A to Lac there are 426 closely printed columns in small type. In using this Dictionary only since his own assumed date, 1855, that is nine years, he has not been able to find more than thirty-four of his supposed errors, of which thu-teen cannot come into the calculation, as they refer to books not published in 1853, the errors are therefore reduced to twenty- one, and of these, eighteen relate to genders, — some of them his palpable blunders ; there remain, then, only three errors in 426 closely printed columns. NoAv, I appeal to the most accurate scholar, and to every man who knows what literary work is, if they do not speak strongly in favom* of Di-. Bos- worth's general accuracy. I know that Mr. Cockayne endeavours to give the impression that these thirty-four imagined errors were to be found in A and B ; while the truth is, he has extended his search as far as Lac. This is evident from his curious criticism upon Dust, EaloS, Funde, Gegyrela, Hord, and Lac. I have, therefore, properly made my calculation from A to Lac. Before I proceed to particulars, it is necessary I should state this general fact, communicated to me by the Professor himself, that, in repeatedly going over his books, he had, many yea7-s ago, cor- rected cdl the errors which Mr. Cockayne has noticed, and others of greater importance. Some, that he calls errors, are not corrected, and for the best of all reasons, because they are not errors, though they 12 A Fetr lieinarks in Di-fenci'. of are gravel}'^ adduced as such by Mr. Cockaj^ne. I must follow Mr. Cockayne into his stronghold — the array of genders omitted. The first is, " Ge-gyrela, a garment, makes -an, and " is mentioned in Luke xv. 22. In Dr. Bosworth's last " Dictionary it appears he only knows the word from "Somner, and has learnt nothing about its gender " or declension." In the Compendious Dictionary it was desirable that as many words as possible should be so reduced in their explanation as only to occupy one line. For this purpose, where there could not be the least difficulty with the youngest learner, the genitive case and the gender were omitted. So it was with Ge-gyrela ; for, as he had said under -a, "all nouns ending in -a are masculine and make the genitive in -an," it seemed unnecessary to lose space by anj'^ addition, especially as in the preceding column to that in Avhich Ge-gyi'ela is found, and a little above, the word is given thus, Ge-gerela, -gyrela, -an, 9?i; clothiiig, garment, robe. In the Dictionaiy of 1838 the genitive case is given, and Luke xv. 22 is cited as the example. What can now be said of the weight of such a charge, or of knowing the word only from Somner ! So much for the omission of genders. One ex- ample onl}' shall be cited of wrong genders. Mr. Cockayne concludes a long and irrelevant discussion on the gender of lac in this triumphant style : — " Now I ask Messrs. Thorpe and Bosworth how they " make out lac to be neuter ?" I am sin-e Mr. Thorpe, the veteran Anglo-Saxon scholai-, and Dr. Bosworth Dr. Bosworth's Saxon Dictionaries. Vo must smile at the question. Tiie Doctor has an- swered, because it is neuter in Csedmon, p. 177, 21, — onbleot fiset lac. In Mr. Thorpe's Psalms, 106, 2 1 : 1 15. 7 : we find laces, which cannot, by an}' ingenuity, be contorted into a feminine form. It is neuter in the Gospels, and the Rushworth, which, though not pure Saxon, may be trusted on this point, when in Matt. viii. 4 it has J^set lac, and in Matt. V. 24, Jpin lac. It is Avell known that it is once or twice found as feminine, and I see a note was made from Mr. Thorpe's Homilies in 1846; but this exception could not be inserted into the Compendious Dictionary, as that part had been stereotyped long before. This is an example of the reckless manner in which Mr. Cockayne draws conclusions. Because one or two instances have been found where a feminine article precedes lac, he passes over the very numerous instances where lac is certainly neuter, and jumps to the conclusion that he has made a grand discovery. The same remark is equally applicable to the compounds^ bryd-lac, and reaf-lac. I will not cite more examples. I must however observe, that, at the foot of p. 6, he silently ac- knowledges his own injustice, by drawing his pen through " I can see no trace in Dr. Bosworth's "Compendious Dictionary, 1855, of his knowing "anything of this." He might well be ashamed of the assertion, as the word is clearly explained in the Dictionary. He makes a great fuss about his wonderful discovery that funde is the perfect 14 A Few liemarks in Defence of tense of Jindan. The Dictionary not only indicates tills, but that fond is another form of the perfect. I copy tlie two following examples from Dr. Bosworth's notes. Mr. Cockayne's inability to discover the new meaning of words will be evident from the two following examples. He affirms truly enough, — " Brecan to hark, I cannot find " in Dr. Bosworth." For this simple reason, brecan never did, and never can mean to hark. Beorcan to hark, is quite a different word from brecan to hreak, and brecende signifies breaking ; and, referring to winds, sudden breaking, gushing, or crashing; and so Mr. Thorpe very properl}- trans- lates it: — SwogaJ) windas, winds shall howl, blawajj brecende. crashing blow. Thorpes God. Exon., p. 59. lo. Beorcan to bark, and brecan to break, are in both the Dictionaries. Mistakes seem to creep into every one of Mr. Cockayne's paragraphs ; here he translates the simple phrase, horsa hnseg- ung horses neighing, or, horses are neighing, making horsa the nominative, while the merest tiro must know it is the genitive plural, and must be trans- lated neighing of horses. I give only one other instance of his mistaking the meaning of a word, and his inability to observe, even when he is most confident. I quote his own words : — " Behealdan. We all know the " modern English phrase, (I would willingly write Dr. BoswortKs Saxon DiHionaru'n. 15 " frase,) ' I am beholden to you.' In Gibson's edition "of the Chronicle, published 1692, long enough ago " one would think for Dr. Bosworth, who, perhaps, "has been able to devote something like seventy "years to his studies, to obtain and to read the "book, some trace of the word appears. L3^e, " laborious, high-spirited ("?), and full as he is, seems " to have missed the word in this sense. Surely, " if a new edition of a bad Dictionary is to appear " under the auspices of one of our noble Univer- " sities, it will be put into the hands of a man " who can observe." This is plain speaking ! Mr. Cockayne said before, "1 have tried to lend to '-' the University the conviction I have long enter- " tained ;" and he now clearly shows what that conviction is, — that the work ought to be in his own hands. Such is the conviction which he entertains. But he has rightly said, — "Surely it will be " put into the hands of a man Avho can observe." Let us see in this instance how far Mr. Cockayne pos- sesses the faculty of observation in a higher degree than Dr. Bosworth. He cites the following words from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of the year 1006: — 'Kc hit naht ne beheolb ]7e ma ]>e hit optofi sep bybe, that is, the English did all they could in opposing the Danes ; hid it signified {held, secured,) nothing more than it had often done before : or, in Mr. Thorpe's terse Saxon English, — "but it came to naught more thaii it had often done before;" (p. 1 13.) The foi-mer translation is made from Dr. Bosworth's 16 A Few Remarks in Defence of Dictionary, published in 1838 ; but this part was printed so early as 1834. The Doctor had there- fore observed, and given the real meaning of this passage thirty years ago. This meaning of beheal- dan is in both the Dictionaries. Let us examine Mr. Cockayne's explanation : " ' I am beholden to you,' that is, bound in gratitude, obliged, or in- debted to you." Let us see how these words Avill read in this passage: — "But it was beholden, (obliged or indebted) nothing more than it had be/ore." The absurdity is evident. He does not know the mean- ing of the expressive Anglo-Saxon word behealdan, nor of our English beholden. Had he consulted Dr. Worcestei-'s Dictionary of the English Lan- guage, he would have obtained the meaning of beholden and the etymology of behealdan given by Dr. Bosworth, for Dr. Worcester* has taken all his Anglo-Saxon derivations from the Professor's Dic- tionary of 1838. Behealdan and behold are from be by, near, and healdan to hold, observe, to hold near, to fix the eyes upon an object which is near. In Anglo-Saxon, to hold near from respect or regard, to mind, signify. Thus, a person beholds that which is brought near, and excites interest or admiration ; he sees involuntarily, looks attentively, and observes * Dr. Worcester sent from America one of tlie first and finest copies of his work to Dr. Bosworth, as the best acknowledgment he could make for supplying him with the most satisfactory etymo- logy of English words derived from Anglo-Saxon. It is a large quarto volume, of nearly tSoo pages : a very handsome book, well printed, on good paper, and I think the price docs not exceed -c*. Dr. Boswortlos Saxon Dictionaries. 1 7 and views cai-efully. — But a literal translation of this passage, with Mr. Cockayne's adopted Latin version, is given below, that everj'^ one may see the English is little more than a transliteration of the Anglo-Saxon, with which the Latin has no analogy. Ac liit naht ne beheold ))e ma })e hit oftor wr dyde. But it naught signified tlie ■more tlmn it often did (ere) be/ore. Or, — But it signified no more than it liad often done before. Verum id non niagis profuit quani antea scepixis. Gibson did his best to give a correct Latin version, and Mr. Cockayne has translated Gibson's Latin, and not the Anglo-Saxon. On referring to the addenda of Lye's Dictionary, Dr. Bosworth tells me he finds he has unconsciously adopted the rendering of Manning, which is — it signified no more than ; Mr. Cockayne's own authority is therefore against him, and supports the Professor's derivation and translation, made thirty years ago. I have now touched upon every important point, excepting Mr. Cockayne's assei'tion that the pro- posed work is " a new edition of a bad dictionary." This is Mr. Cockayne's opinion ; but it is in direct opposition to that of the literati and of the press, both of Europe and America. I will not make a parade by quoting the opinions here ; but as many may not have observed them, a few are given in the last page of this pamphlet, that the true character and the reception of the original edition may be ]vnown, and Mr. Cockayne's friends, whom he has 18 Remarks on Dr. Bosivorth'x Dictionaries. influenced by strong assertions, may judge from the opinions of competent witnesses. I will only add, that I believe the new edition will contain all that is known up to the present time, as Dr. Bos- worth has the promised assistance of most of the eminent Anglo-Saxon scholars at home and abroad. In the preceding pages, I hope, I have avoided the personalities which I condemn in Mr. Cockayne, while I have been recording the facts, which I felt it was necessary should be plainly stated. I have, I believe, succeeded in showing that Mr. Cockayne is-^ Wrong in his dates ; and therefore Wrong in the conclusions he draws from those dates ; W^rong as to his statement of errors ; Wrong as to the knowledge of the Gospels ; Wrong as to the omission of genders ; Wrong in the genders of nouns ; Wrong in the meaning of brecan and brecende ; Wrong in the meaning of the English beholden, and its application ; Wrong in the meaning of the Anglo-Saxon behealdan ; and Wrong in his supposed influence with the Uni- versity of Oxford ; and that, therefore, his judgment on a literary work is as worthless, as his attempt to interfere with an existing arrangement is unjustifiable. A DICTIONARY of the ANGLO-SAXON LANGUAGE, containing the Accentuation, the Grammatical Inflections, &c. By the Rev. J. Bosworth, D.D., of Trinity College, Cambridge: Dr. Phil, of Leyden : F.R.S. One vol. 8vo. London, 1838. **Thi3 volume contains, within a moderate compass, a complete apparatus for tlie study of Anglo-Saicon. Copious, accurate, cheap — embodying the whole results of Anglo-Saxon scholar- ship — there is no other work of the kind that can be put in comparison with it. , It is the fruit of ripe scholarship, enlarged views, and many years* severe and patient labour. . . The English language consists of about tliirty-eight thousand words. Of these, about twenty -thi-ee thousand, or nearly five-eightlis, are of Anglo-Saxou ori^." — Edinburgh Review for Oct. 1839, No. CXLI. pp. 331-344. '* The substance of the English language, its vigorous root, its fu*m and massy st«m, with its wide-spreading branches, are all Anglo-Saxon. Though its foliage has been varied and adorned by scions of Grecian, Roman, and Norman origin, our present Englisii is ' completely Anglo- Saxon, ill its whole idiora aud construction.' The work now before us, for the fii-st time, lays fully opeu the source of our copious and powerful language. It is denominated an Anglo-Saxon I5ictionary, but it is, in fact, a Lexicon of early English; for the celebrated jlSlfric, one of the first andpurest Anglo-Saxon writers, so styles his native tongue. . . If it be our reproach tliat our most eminent literary men have been so much occupied in studying Latin and Greek, that they have scarcely deigned to cast a glance at their own mother tongue, much less to examine tlie beauty- of its structure, or its nen'ous power, the reproach is now removed ; for here we liave a work, which, while it contains the derivation and original meaning of all pure Anglo-Saxon words, proves, beyond the sliadow of a doubt, that the bones and sinews, the real strength and vigour of our good old English, is, like our being, our customs, aud our free constitution, entirely derived from our hardy aud independent Anglo-Saxon forefathers. "This work is a necessary supplement to all our present English dictionaries, and ought to be in the hands of every one who has any pretensions to a thorough knowledge of the English language. . . . All who xnsh to know the real signification of the words they daily use, will here find a ready access to their original meaning." — Liter-ary Gazette- ** The publication of this Dictionary is likely to form an era in the study of Anglo-Saxon. A book which we venture to say will do more to advance the study of the Anglo-Saxon language, and consequently the full and perfect underetanding of our own, than any work which has yet appeared. A most laborious task — a volume, upon which we lay our hands with great respect. TTae long Preface gives a sketch of all the Teutonic aud Scandinavian languages, mth abundant illustrations. It is ftiU of very vaUiable learning, and shows great diligence, and patient, long research." — NorQi American Review^ No. C, July, 183S. ** Dr. Bosworth has long since made proof of thorough competence for his present task. . . He has thoroughly investigated the wide field of philological instruction which has of late yeare been so skilfully broken up by continental scholars, and especially by those of Germany ; and he has not been induce^ by these higher and more extensive inquiries, to overlook those minor circum- stances of illustration and arrangement whch contribute so much to the usefulness of grammatical and lexicographical composition. The prolegomenary matter is highly valuable, and must have cost great pains before it could be reduc«l to its actual state of close yet clear compression. The filiation of languages is exemplified in various forms of agreement and transition, aud copious references are given to works of authority, where a more complete exposition seemed desh-able. All this is skilfully conducted, and with entire mastery of the subject. A work which supersedes all others of the kind, and wliich is not likely to be speedily superseded.*' — Eclectic Review. ** Dr. Bosworth's qualifications for the work were attained by tlie study of twenty years, seven of which have been occupied on the book before us. In speaking of the Preface, it would be impossible to find so much Information on the Anglo-Saxon and Germanic tongues collected in so few pages. . . We cannot but express the delight which we have felt in tlie candour and sincerity with which his work has been conducted, and tee rejoice to perceive Viat the •paltry prejudices and supercUioits spirit icJiichlmve disgraced so many of his brother Saxonists of the present day ^ have not ii\fected him. We hope that his contemporaries may see the error of their i^-ays from the simplici^ and candour of Dr. Bosworth."— iVewr York Review, ** Dr. Bosworth has been long known to the public as an indefatigable and accurate scholar, and this Dictionary fully answers our expectation. We have no hesitation in saying it is one of the most important works which has issued from the press, and that the manner in which a very difficult task has been executed, corresponds w^ith its importance." — British Cnlic and Quarterly Theological Revieic. " This work gives full proof of the learned writer's philosophic mind, his fundamental know- ledge of language, and his extensive reading of the best philological works, not only of England, but of other countries, especially of Germany and our FaUierland. Great value attaches to it from the writer ha\ing carefully added to the Anglo-Saxon the cognate words from other brandies of the German stem." — Tratislated from Professor Si^eiibeek^s Revieio in the Haarlem Literary and Scientific Journal. " We are glad to see that, at last, the great difficulty which lay in the ivay of a more general study of the Anglo-Saxon language is cleared up by the appearance of a portable and useftil " Dictionary. At a very moderate price, and in a most convenient form, it contains all that is requisite in former Dictionaries, and nearly twice as many words. We recommend it strongly." — Gentleman^s Magazi^.