513 DICTIONARY. 



which should come a chronological deduction of the changes it has 

 undergone, as far as they can be traced, both in signification and in 

 form, the whole definition being concluded by an explanation of its 

 metaphorical and other secondary or transferred meanings. If its use 

 in each sense can be illustrated by an example, such quotations are, 

 for various reasons, in the highest degree satisfactory and valuable. 

 Any remarkable uses of the word in particular passages of standard 

 authors ought at least to be adverted to and explained ; and a notice 

 of its peculiarities of construction, or the manner in which it is con- 

 nected with other words in a sentence, should never be omitted. 

 There are some dictionaries in which all this has been attempted, but 

 perhaps scarcely one in which it has been quite satisfactorily executed. 

 Among the most carefully compiled dictionaries of modern languages 

 are that of the Italian, entitled ' Vocabolario degli Academiei della 

 Crusca,' extended in the latest editions to 6 vols. fol. ; and that of the 

 French, entitled ' Dictionnaire de 1' Academic Franchise.' But in both 

 these works, especially in the latter, the design principally kept in view 

 has been to guard the purity of the language. There is also a Spanish 

 dictionary of great reputation, entitled ' Diccionario de la Lengua Cas- 

 tellana, compuesto por la Real Academia Espanola,' 6 vols. fol., 

 Madrid, 1726, &c. In English, Johnson's Dictionary has been accounted 

 the standard work of its class ever since its appearance, in 2 vols. fol., 

 1755 ; but although it was a great achievement for an individual, and 

 its definitions in particular afford remarkable evidence of its author's 

 ingenuity and command of expression, it is in many respects far from 

 being what a dictionary should be. Its etymological part is very poor ; 

 and it is characterised throughout by want of method and of philoso- 

 phical views. Some useful matter has been added to the edition of 

 the English Dictionary (augmented to 6 vols. 4to.) edited by the 

 Reverend Mr. Todd ; but the philosophical character of the work has 

 received no improvement in his hands. Dr. Richardson's Dictionary is 

 formed on the principle of giving all the words consecutively that are 

 derived from the same root. It appeared first in the ' Encyclopaedia 

 Britannica,' but was published, enlarged and improved, in 1826. Other 

 dictionaries have been compiled containing collections of obsolete or 

 provincial words. Among them may be mentioned, as belonging to 

 Great Britain, that of Dr. Jamieson, ' An Etymological Dictionary of the 

 Scottish Language,' in 2 vols. 4to, Edinb., 1808 ; Boucher's ' Glossary 

 of Archaic and Provincial Words ; a Supplement to the Dictionaries of 

 the English Language, particularly those of Dr. Johnson and^Webster,' 

 which was carried no further than the word Blade, and only one part 

 was published as a specimen, with a well-written introduction, in 4to, 

 in 1832 [BOUCHER, in Bioo. Div.] ; Halliwell's ' Dictionary of Archaic 

 and Provincial Words,' 2 vols. 8vo,1850; and Thos. Wright's ' Dictionary 

 of Obsolete and Provincial English,' in 2 vols. 8vo, 1857 ; Crabb's 

 ' Technological Dictionary,' published in 2 vols. 4to, in 1823; and of 

 which a new edition has been published in 1859 ; a work of a useful 

 character, which might be extended and improved to advantage. 



II. Dirtionariei of facts. This class comprehends dictionaries of 

 history, biography, mythology, geography, archaeology, and all others 

 that deal chiefly or exclusively with event* that have happened, or are 

 uupposed to hare happened, or with facts that exist or have existed. 

 Many of the principal works of this description are enumerated in the 

 article BIOGRAPHY : and under BIBLIOGRAPHY will be found an account 

 of another large division of them. We may here observe that some of 

 the old Greek lexicons already noticed were dictionaries of facts as 

 well as of words ; the lexicon of Suidas, for instance, is, in the greater 

 part, made up of fragments of biography, history, and geography, and 

 often contains large extracts from various writers both extant and lost. 

 The work of Stephanus Byzantinus, sometimes entitled 'Eeyi/cA (the 

 Ethnology), more commonly Tltpl n6\eay (the Book of Cities, or rather 

 of States), is chiefly a geographical and archaeological dictionary, and 

 is the oldest compilation of that description that exists. Its meagre 

 details under each head assimilate it in some respects to an imperfect 

 gazetteer. In modern times the number of dictionaries that have 

 appeared, professing to present a view of a more or less extensive field 

 of facts, has been very great. Besides the various historical, bio- 

 graphical, and geographical dictionaries, general and particular, and the 

 bibliographical dictionaries, there are dictionaries of antiquities, of archi- 

 tecture, of heraldry, of painting, of music, of botany, of law, of legal 

 decisions, of commerce, of medicine, of surgery, and of almost every 

 other department of human knowledge. Opinions, indeed, considered 

 historically, are themselves facts, and as such ought to be recorded and 

 arranged in dictionaries as well as other facts. Discussion also often 

 places doubtful facts in a clearer light, and a dictionary may be as con- 

 venient a vehicle for such discussion as any other book. But a most 

 useful class of books, of which we have yet scarcely a specimen, would 

 be a set of dictionaries or tabular expositions of facts, and nothing else. 

 They would serve, among other purposes, as maps of the extent and 

 boundaries of the different departments of human knowledge, and 

 most useful directories in the prosecution of all inquiries having in 

 lie enlargement of those boundaries. As of facts some are com- 

 pletely ascertained, others only probable, and others doubtful, three 

 divisions answering to these descriptions might be given under each 

 Vnd a fourth might perhaps be advantageously added for impro- 

 > able or confuted statements, although these last might be more 

 scientifically exhibited in the table or dictionary of the facts forming 

 the history of opinions. 



ARTS AND SCI. DIY. VOL, Til. 



DICTIONARY. 



This class of Dictionary, indeed, is becoming much in vogue 

 for special subjects or branches of study; and the following titles 

 of a few of the more characteristic will illustrate their nature : 

 ' Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales, par une Socie'te' de Me"decins et 

 Chirurgiens,' edited by F. P. Chauneton and F. V. MeVat, 60 vols, 

 8vo, Par. 1812-22; ' Universal- Lexiion der Praktischeu Medecin und 

 Chirurgie, von Andral Be'gin, etc.,' 14 vols. 8vo, Leipz. 1844-48 ; 

 ' Dictionary of Practical Medicine,' by J. Copland, 3 vols. 8vo, Lend. 



1844-58; 'Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology, with Supplementary 

 Volume,' by R. B. Todd, 5 vols. 8vo, Lond. 1835-59 ; ' Dictionnaire 



1839 ; ' Nouveau Dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle, appliquee aux Arts/ 

 nouvelle ed., 36 vols. 8vo, Par. 1816-19; 'Dictionnaire Classique 

 d'histoire naturelle,' par Audouin, Bourdon, and others, edited by Bory 

 de St. Vincent, 17 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1822-31, of which a 2nd ed. pub- 

 lished under the title of ' Nouveau Dictionnaire Classique d'histoire 

 naturelle; ou repertoire des sciences naturelles et physiques. Re'dige' 

 par une Societe" de Naturalistes,' 2e edition, revue par M. B. S., 47 

 vols. 12mo, with an Atlas in 8vo, Paris, 1844-46; 'Dictionnaire des 

 Sciences Naturelles,' edited by F. Cuvier, 61 vols. of text and 10 of 

 plates, 8vo, Strasb. and Paris, 1816-45 with a 'Supplement et Atlas 

 de Zoologie,' 2 vols. 8vo, Par. 1840-44 ; ' Dizionario delle Scienze 

 Natural! : tradizione dal Francese, con aggiunte e correzioni,' (with 

 plates) 26 vols. 8vo, Firenze, 1830-51; 'Dictionnaire de I'lndustrie 

 manufacturiere, commerciale, et agricole,' par Baudrimont, Blanqui, &c., 

 10 vols. 8vo, Paris, 1831-41 ; ' Dictionnaire Raisonne" de 1' Architecture 



I'epoque Carlovingienne a la Renaissance,' 8vo, Par. 1858, &c. The first 

 part treating of 'Meubles,' is in 1 vol., and is being followed by other 

 vols. on 2" Ustensiles, Outils, Instruments, &c. ; 3" Orfevriere ; 4 

 Habits, Ve'tements, Parure; 5 Armes, EquipementsMilitaires,Harnais; 

 6 Bijous. ' A Dictionary of Photography,' by T. Sutton, in 1 vol. 8vo, 

 1858; 'Dictionary of Botanical Terms;' and Page's 'Dictionary of 

 Terms used in Geology,' &c. &c. 



III. Dictionaries of Things. This, the 'third class of dictionaries, 

 includes all the abstract sciences, the mixed or applied sciences, the 

 departments of criticism and the fine arts, and the whole range of 

 metaphysical and moral speculation. It is true that some of these 

 subjects cannot be treated of without a reference to facts; but the 

 facts here are not viewed simply as such, but either as subordinate 

 to principles or as modifying their operation. No very rigorous ad- 

 herence to the limits of a definition, however, is to be expected in 

 a dictionary of any kind, which must in all cases be a somewhat, un- 

 systematic performance, and accordingly we have, few, if any, dic- 

 tionaries which are exclusively dictionaries of things m the sense that 

 has just been explained. Many of the dictionaries referred to under 

 the last head are dictionaries of things as well as of facts : that is to 

 say, they contain, mixed up with their statements of facts, expositions 

 or discussions of principles. On the other hand, dictionaries of things 

 are generally also dictionaries of facts, and sometimes lexicons, or dic- 

 tionaries of words and phrases, in addition. The most important works 

 of this description have been published under the title of Dictionaries 

 of the Arts and Sciences, or Encyclopaedias. By the word tyKvtt\o- 

 xcuSfia, encyclopaedia, the Greeks seem to have understood the whole 

 circle of learning, or of the liberal aits, or instruction therein, the 

 term being so applied under the notion that all the departments of 

 human knowledge were naturally connected together so as to form a 

 sort of circle or complete system. Pliny (' Nat. Hist.' pjoof.) speaks of 

 the encyclopaedia of the Greeks as an expression for the whole field of 

 knowledge : " Jam omnia attingenda, quso Graeci TTJS tynvK\inTcu!ielas 

 vocant." Quintilian (i. 10) defines it as the orb or complete circle of 

 human learning : " Orbis ilia doctrina;, quam Grseci tyKVK\owa.LSeiav 

 vocant." Vitruvius (vi. prsef.) describes the encyclios or 4yicvK\ws 

 iraiStia of the Greeks as the discipline of all the branches of learning : 

 " doctrinarum omnium disciplina." It does not appear that the term 

 encyclopaedia was ever anciently used as meaning a work treating of all 

 the various kinds of knowledge. It has, however, as just observed, 

 become the common title for such works in modern times. Perhaps 

 it was first so applied by some of the Arabian writers of the middle 

 ages, one of whom at least, Alfarabius, who flourished in the 10th 

 century, is stated to have compiled a general treatise on the sciences, 

 still preserved, under this title. Several such treatises with the name 

 title appeared in Europe about the end of the 1 6th and beginning of 

 the 17th centuries, the most famous of which was that of John Henry 

 Alstedius, which was first published in 2 vols. fol. in 1630. (See 

 preface to Supplement to ' Encyclopaedia Britannica/ and Morhcffii 

 Polyhistor, vol. i. lib. ii. chap. 7, for an account of this and other ecrly 

 encyclopaedias.) But none of these woiks were dictionaries : they 

 were merely collections of treatises, rather resembling euch woikfi ns 

 Dodsley's 'Preceptor' than answering to the mcdein notitn of nn en- 

 cyclopaedia. A much nearer resemblance to the modem encyclor tcdia 

 is presented by the ' Lexicon Universale Histoiico-Gecgrarbieo-G.ro- 

 nologico-Poetico-FhiloIogicviir ' of Joh. Jac. Hoin:an, fust j.ubJitbed at 

 Basle, in 2 vols. fol., 1677, and followed by a ' C'cntimiatio' or UujrOe- 



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