The Language of Thieves and Vagabonds: 17th and 18th Century Canting Lexicography in England

Maurizio Gotti

Published by Max Niemeyer Verlag 1999

The Language of Thieves and Vagabonds

17th and 18th Century Canting Lexicography in England

Maurizio Gotti

Volume 94 in the series Lexicographica. Series Maior

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110924404

Overview
Contents

About this book

The object of the volume is the analysis of the main dictionaries and glossaries of the canting language (the particular jargon spoken by thieves and vagabonds) that appeared in the 17th and 18th centuries. The scholars' attention has mostly concentrated on the earliest publications - particulary those appearing in the Elizabethan period -, while relatively little research has investigated subsequent canting dictionaries and glossaries. The aim of the present volume is to fill this gap. The main works on canting published in the 17th and 18th centuries are analysed in chapters 3 to 10. The first two chapters provide a necessary introduction to the investigation carried out in the subsequent sections, examining the great increase in the numbers of vagabonds and criminals in England in that period from a sociohistorical perspective and reviewing the 16th-century English literature about the underworld. The subsequent eight chapters give a detailed analysis of the main works on canting which appeared in the second part of the 17th century and during the whole of the 18th century. The specific features of each publication are identified, as well as the method adopted by its author in the compilation of his dictionary/glossary and the most likely sources of its entries, in order to determine the degree of novelty and relevance that his contribution has brought to this field. The final chapter deals with the evolution in the meaning of the term 'cant' itself in the period taken into consideration.

Topics

Frontmatter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	i
Contents Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	v
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 1. The English Underworld in the 16th–18th Centuries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	5
Chapter 2. Early Canting Literature Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	16
Chapter 3. The New Canting Terms Reported by Richard Head Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	33
Chapter 4. The Canting Terms of Coles’ Dictionary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	49
Chapter 5. Β.E.’s Innovative Approach Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	60
Chapter 6. The Canting Component of The Ladies Dictionary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	68
Chapter 7. Alexander Smith’s Thieves New Canting Dictionary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	76
Chapter 8. Lexical Additions in A New Canting Dictionary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	85
Chapter 9. John Poulter’s Canting Expressions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	94
Chapter 10. Francis Grose’s Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	101
Chapter 11. The Evolution of the Concept of Cant in the 17th and 18th Centuries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	114
Appendices Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
Summaries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
Indexes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Max Niemeyer Verlag
Edition: Reprint 2012
Pages
- Front matter: 6
- Main content: 159
Keywords: Englisch; Gaunersprache; Lexikographie; Geschichte 1676-1785

eBook

Published: August 9, 2012
ISBN: 9783110924404

Hardcover

Published: September 15, 1999
ISBN: 9783484309944