Chasing the Sun: Dictionary-Makers and the Dictionaries They Made

From Sumerian clay tablets 4500 years ago to today's CDROMs, the evolution of lexicography is colorful. Explore its history thru the quirks & biases of the lexicographers who influenced English.IllustrationsPrefaceIntroductionThe first lexicographers & the first "dictionaries"The middle ages: putting it in order The move from Latin Vulgar tongues Slang: part 1The seventeenth century: hard wordsThe seventeenth century: variations & themesThe early eighteenth century Samuel Johnson: the pivotal moment America: the years before Webster America: Noah Webster & Joseph WorcesterThe new philology The New English Dictionary Slang: part 2The modern worldNotesBibliographyIndex