What was a "dog-room" in 1847 (or 1773)?

[Jonathan Lighter]

Not in Mathews's _DA_ either.

  JL

"Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Joel S. Berson"
Subject: What was a "dog-room" in 1847 (or 1773)?
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In a story published in America in 1847, I have the following sentence:

"The furniture, though evidently of an age anterior to that of the
inhabited part of the house, was of a style and description better
befitting what our ancestors used to call a "dog-room" than a bed-chamber."

The story itself is set in 1773, and describes a house in South Carolina.

"Dog-room" is not in OED2. What does it mean?

Joel



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