pseudonym

[Joel S. Berson]

There are certainly editions of Chambers in the 18th century,
starting in 1728, as can be seen in any of several on-line library
catalogs - such as ESTC.  And there is an edition published 1741--1743.

Joel

At 8/6/2012 11:59 PM, Victor Steinbok wrote:
>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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