Jesse et al: Further antedating eggnog to 1735 !?

[Joel S. Berson]

I see on Language Log there is a link to
http://virtual-grub-street.blogspot.com/2007/12/more-on-etymology-of-eggnog.html
with an alleged 1735 "egg nog" from Georgia!  [Google Books, snippet
view.]  But this may be just another Google Books misdirection, since
the "Session Laws" is a multi-volume work, first issued in 1735.  In
fact, I believe there was not even a legislature in Georgia in 1735
-- it was governed by the Trustees, from England, with Oglethorpe as
military commander but not governor.  So what year is page 262
for?  Another suspicious datum is that the same sentence includes
"ice cream", which OED2 dates from 1744, although a 10-year
antedating has perhaps a non-zero probability.

Jesse, I can go to the Harvard Law School library for this (it's on
microfiche).  Should I bother?

[From Google Books:]
Acts Passed by the General Assembly of Georgia - Page 262
by Georgia - Session laws - 1735
... skimmed, chocolate or flavored milk or drink, buttermilk, fluid
cream, ice cream, ice milk, egg nog or other dessert, ice cream or
ice milk mixes.

(With respect to Sam Clements' comment about editions of Boucher, I
think it's pointless to look at even the 1807 edition -- there are
too many before-1800 instances in EAN.)

Joel

At 12/26/2007 07:17 PM, Sam Clements wrote:
>My reading of Matthews DofA cites Boucher, 1832-33!
>
>Sam Clements
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2007 7:08 PM
>Subject: Re: antedating: eggnog (c1774)
>
>
>>I assume this kills Heidi Harley's joyeux noel -- but do these two
>>dictionaries have a quote from 1775, or just a quote from Boucher's
>>1807 book?  The former would be an antedating; the latter is too late
>>to be useful, I think.
>>
>>Joel
>>
>>At 12/26/2007 03:34 PM, Joanne M. Despres wrote:
>>>Sorry to be a killjoy, but Mitford Mathews's _Dictionary of
>>>Americanisms_ and William Craigie's _Dictionary of American
>>>English_ both quote this passage, dating it ca. 1775.
>>>
>>>Joanne
>>>
>>>On 23 Dec 2007, at 2:06, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
>>>
>>> > Just in time for the holidays, a fine antedating from Heidi Harley:
>>> >
>>> > http://heideas.blogspot.com/2007/12/antedated-eggnog.html
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > --Ben Zimmer
>>> >
>>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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