Antedating of "Proletariat"

[Fred Shapiro]

proletariat (OED a1853)

1847 _Daguerrotype_ 16 Oct. 264 (American Periodical Series)  The
proletariat,* which has not morally and physically any thing to lose, has
allied itself to this revolutionary tendency ... * This word, which has
lately become familiar to all readers of German and French literature,
signifies the lowest and poorest classes, those in fact who are totally
destitute of property.

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
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