[Lexicog] introducing myself

[breonm2004]

> Hi, I am a new member of the list. I am a professor of Germanic
> Studies and Comparative Literature at
> Indiana University and more recently also Director of the rare book
> library here (The Lilly Library).
>
> I am not a professional linguist, but for several years now I have
> been collecting dictionaries and vocabularies
> of all the languagues of the world (with the exception of European
> languages, classical languages, and the
> following: Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hebrew).  My
> special interest is finding the first
> published dictionary for each language of the world, insofar as one
> exists, almost without exception
> bilingual of course. These can be bilingual with any known language
> (so Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian,
> etc.dictionaries of African languages, for example).  I already have
> the first known dictionaries of over 500
> languages, many of them recent, as one would expect.  And I realize
> several of you in this list may be
> assembling the first true dictionary of a language (as are colleagues
> here at IU) and I would like to be in touch
> with you. What constitutes the first "true" dictionary of a language
> is itself a fascinating question with no real
> answer, but it is not too difficult to identify the first substantial
> collection of words with accompanying
> definitions in a particular language.  I also collect early printed
> vocabularies and word lists from travel books,
> etc. for each language.
>
> Are there any other collectors in this group?  Or anyone attracted by
> the idea of having a wide range of early
> rare lexicographical material assembled in one place for research
> purposees, including compartive studies?
>
> I am also attempting to preserve the record of early lexicography
> (manuscript dictionaries, notes of early
> lexicographers, etc) as well as any material by present day
> lexicographers who would like to see their work
> preserved in a research institution and made available to future
> scholars.  The difference in this case from other
> collections with lexicographers' papers would be the breadth of the
> collection, which does try to include all the
> languages of the world.
>
> I look forward to contact with you. Happy New Year!
>
>
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