At 02:02 PM 8/11/99 -0400, Richard Kimmel wrote:
>... Are you aware of any "dictionaries" out there that deal with 19th
century and earlier usage...

To get a really good answer, your question needs to be more specific.  What
time period are you interested in?  Are you interested in any particular
locality or subject area?

The best single source for historic phrase and word use is the Oxford
English Dictionary.  It is not perfect.  For specific periods and
categories of words/phrases, one should also consult the specialty
literature or extrapolate the meaning from its context (this *is* how
dictionary definitions are made in the first place).  For example, many
inventory collections include glossaries of terms.  Ditto for handbooks for
specific occupations and craft specialties.  Regional dialects pose an
interesting challenge since many sources (the OED included) do not often
indicate how broad a particular term's usage was--e.g., whether it was
widely used or specific to a small locality/occupation.

Cheers,
Mary Ellin



Mary Ellin D'Agostino, PhD, RPA
Post-Doctoral Fellow
Archaeological Research Facility
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-1076
Fax: 510-643-9637
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