Joanna Bourne's
Useful Bibliography for Writing Historical Language
Especially of the English Regency
General Resources:
The Oxford English Dictionary Online. https://www.oed.com/ It’s prohibitively expensive to subscribe to,
but my be available through your school or city.
Partridge’s Slang and Unconventional English may be
worth buying in hardback. Not online, but it’s inexpensive secondhand.
Etymology Online is a fast and accurate way to look
up the origin of many words:
https://www.etymonline.com/
https://www.etymonline.com/
Les guillotinés for a list of folks killed by the guillotine. Useful for French period names.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:French_people_executed_by_guillotine_during_the_French_Revolution
Merriam-Webster Dictionary is fast: https://www.merriam-webster.com/ https://www.merriam-webster.com/ Many online dictionary sites are good with date of word origin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:French_people_executed_by_guillotine_during_the_French_Revolution
Merriam-Webster Dictionary is fast: https://www.merriam-webster.com/ https://www.merriam-webster.com/ Many online dictionary sites are good with date of word origin.
Google Advanced Book Search will tell you whether a
word or phrase occurs in your period of interest. You see it in place in the
book, so it also shows how the word or phrase is used, which is especially handy.
https://books.google.com/advanced_book_search
Google Ngram, to see how common a word was. This site compare your target word to all other words avilable in Google books of that year. Books NOT entered into Google will be missed. Very rare words may be missed. 'S' and 'F' are indistinguishable breore 1800-ish. If a word only pops up once or twice, double check the title page to make certain the published date has been entered correctly.
https://books.google.com/ngrams
Separated by a Common Language is a fine blog talking about the differences between US and UK usage.
https://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/
Phrase Finder is another blog looking at origin of phrases. Good spot for info on the hard data that shoots down folk etymology.
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/no-room-to-swing-a-cat.html
Google Ngram, to see how common a word was. This site compare your target word to all other words avilable in Google books of that year. Books NOT entered into Google will be missed. Very rare words may be missed. 'S' and 'F' are indistinguishable breore 1800-ish. If a word only pops up once or twice, double check the title page to make certain the published date has been entered correctly.
https://books.google.com/ngrams
Separated by a Common Language is a fine blog talking about the differences between US and UK usage.
https://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/
Phrase Finder is another blog looking at origin of phrases. Good spot for info on the hard data that shoots down folk etymology.
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/no-room-to-swing-a-cat.html
Dictionaries, Mostly
Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: Giving the Derivation
Source, Or Origin of Common Phrases, Allusions, and Words that Have a Tale to
Tell
Ebenezer Cobham Brewer 1905
Grose's Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: Revised
and Corrected with the Addition of Numerous Slang Phrases Collected from Tried
Authorities
Francis Grose, Pierce Egan 1823
A Dictionary of Slang and Colloquial English: Abridged from
the Seven-volume Work, Entitled: Slang and Its Analogues
John Stephen Farmer, William Ernest Henley 1905
There’s also a seven-volume set of this Farmer and Henley on
Google Books
Dictionary of Americanisms: A Glossary of Words and Phrases
Usually Regarded as Peculiar to the United States
John Russell Bartlett
1860
A Dictionary of the English Language
Samuel Johnson 1755
English Synonyms: With Copious Illustrations and
Explanations, Drawn from the Best Writers
George Crabb 1826
Regency Period Plays, Songs, Fiction, Letters, and Memoirs
Ursula Le Guin Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction that I mentioned in the talk.
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/no-room-to-swing-a-cat.htmlhttps://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/no-room-to-swing-a-cat.html
Ursula Le Guin Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction that I mentioned in the talk.
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/no-room-to-swing-a-cat.htmlhttps://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/no-room-to-swing-a-cat.html
The surprising adventures of Bampfylde Moore Carew, king of
the beggars: containing his life--a dictionary of the cant language and many
entertaining particulars of that extraordinary man
Robert Goadby 1812
John Bull: Or, The Englishman’s Fireside
George Colman 1803
The Universal Songster
1825
Letters of the Late Lord Lyttleton
William Combe 1807
Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montague, Written During Her
Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa; to which are Added Poems by the Same
Author. Stereotype Edition, According to the Press of Firmin Didot
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu 1800
Tom & Jerry: Life in London, Or, The Day and Night Scenes
of Jerry Hawthorn, Esq. and His Elegant Friend Corinthian Tom, in Their Rambles
and Sprees Through the Metropolis
Pierce Egan 1821
Boxiana; Or, Sketches of Ancient and Modern Pugilism: From the
days of the renowned Broughton and Slack, to the championship of Cribb
Pierce Egan 1830
The New London Spy; Or, a Modern Twenty-four Hours Ramble Through
the Great British Metropolis
John Fielding 1794
Ben Brace: The Last of Nelson's Agamemnons
Frederick Chamier 1840
Memoirs of Theobald Wolfe Tone: Written by Himself.
Comprising a Complete Journal of His Negotiations to Procure the Aid of the
French for the Liberation of Ireland (Volume 2 of 2)
Theobald Wolfe Tone
1827
The Autobiography of Sir Harry Smith
Harry Smith 1787-1860
The Letters of Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Byron’s Letters and Journals, Volumes 1 and 2
George Gordon Byron
The British Minstrel, and National Melodist: A Collection of
the Most Esteemed and Popular English, Scottish, and Irish Songs, Duets,
Catches, Chorusses, Glees, and Comic Recitations;
1827
The Vindictive Man: a Comedy, in Five Acts
Thomas Holcroft 1807
The Beggar’s Opera
John Gay 1728
The Clubs of London: With Anecdotes of Their Members,
Sketches of Character, and Conversations
Charles Marsh 1828
Gleanings in Europe, Volumes 1 and 2
James Fenimore Cooper 1837
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57060
London Labour and the London Poor, Volumes 1, 2 and 3
Henry Mayhew 1840s
More Mornings at Bow Street: A New Collection of Humorous
and Entertaining Reports
John Wight 1827
The New bon ton magazine, or Telescope of the times
1818
The Sportsman's Calendar: Or, Monthly Remembrancer of Field
Diversions
John Lawrence 1818
Thoughts upon hare and fox hunting, in a series of letters
Peter Beckford 1797
A Physical View of Man and Woman in a State of Marriage:
With Anatomical Engravings, Volumes 1 and 2
M. de Lignac (trans. Louis François Luc) 1798
Peter's Letters to his Kinsfolkd
John Gobson Lockhart
1821
Letters of the Late Lord Lyttleton
William Combe 1807
Letters of Lady Mary Wortley Montague, Written During Her
Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa; to which are Added Poems by the Same
Author. Stereotype Edition, According to the Press of Firmin Didot 1800
The memoirs of Fanny Hill
John Cleland 1749
The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling
Henry Fielding 1740
The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
Daniel Defoe 1719
Thank you Jo. I'll have a hunt for/read the books listed.
ReplyDeleteI hope that you are OK "in these troubling times."
Kerry
Many of them are useful. Quite a few of them are great reads.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful list. Thank you for compiling and sharing.
ReplyDeleteSome of the refs are only useful to those writing in the Georgian and Regency periods, alas, but folks who've done historical research do sorta accidentally acquire useful bibliographies.
ReplyDeleteI put this in a list for a presentation I did for the Beau Monde. Such a good organization.
https://thebeaumonde.com/main/
Ooh, this is a really helpful list!
ReplyDelete