pseudonym

[Victor Steinbok]

I have not posted a lot of antedating lately, but I discovered on quite
by accident. OED has 1817 as the earliest for pseudonym.

http://goo.gl/7hVCj
A new universal and pronouncing dictionary of the French and English.
Volume 2 (English-French). By Nicolas Gouin Dufief. 1810
p. 454/2
pseudonymus  [with the French side giving "pseudonyme"]

I've actually looked for this previously, but without success. Perhaps
whatever ails Google lately helped in this case.

There is perhaps even earlier "pseudonymus". The OED only has the French
alternative spelling of "pseudonyme", which is given as the French
translation in the dictionary, but there is no alternative Latin
spelling "pseudonymus" (as in Pope's Octavus pseudonymus). The issue is
whether this is real integrated usage or simply a borrowing from Latin
that was never used independently. I'll let editors decide.

Refining the search to look for "pseudonymus" rather than "pseudonym"
hits the jackpot.

Chambers' Cyclopaedia's fifth edition (volume 2, 1743) gives an entry
for pseudonymus:

http://goo.gl/sAOAx
> Pseudonymus, a name given by the critics to those authors who publish
> books under false or feigned names.--Much as the name /cryptonymus/ is
> given to those who publish under secret and disguised names : and
> /anonymus/, to those who publish without any names at all. See ANONYMOUS

I initially though that the title page had a misprint and this was a
19th century volume. But it has the earlier punctuation (semicolons) and
the long-s, which was long gone 100 years later. Plus, there is no
pagination in the volume. I don't know if there is a record of the
edition of Chambers' Cyclopedia, but this one appears to be correctly
dated (absent further evidence to the contrary). If so, this also
predates OED entry for "anonym" (1812) and "cryptonym" (1862).

There is further evidence that this is correct.

http://goo.gl/NtQsG
Pantologia: A new cyclopaedia, comprehending a complete series of essays
and Systems, Alphabetically Arranged. By John Mason Good, Olinthus
Gregory, Newton Bosworth. Volume 9. 1813
> PSEUDONIMUS, Among critics, an author who publishes a book under a
> false or feigned name; as /cryptonymus/ is given to those who publish
> one under a disguised name; and /anonymus/ to him who publishes
> without any name at all

Note that the text is a slight improvement on Chambers', although it
also comes without pagination. On the other hand, the long-s is gone.
There is also a similar entry in the mostly plagiarized A New and
Complete Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (2nd ed, 1764 http://goo.gl/RkCz3 )

One other dictionary gives the definition for "pseudonymous" (with
"pseudonymus" in etymology)  http://goo.gl/0yVOy

It is odd that all hits for "pseudonymus" either give Latin usage or
dictionary definitions. But that's someone else's concern.

     VS-)

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