Creator
John Cowell
Title
The Interpreter: or Booke Containing the Signification of Words
Coverage
Cambridge
Publisher
John Legate
Date
1607
Description
Although Cowell’s Interpreter appeared just three years after Cawdrey’s book, its entries are maturely developed. Cowell defined copiously, gave alternative spellings, cited and quoted authorities, distinguished near-synonyms, and provided cross-references. The Interpreter triggered grief and misery. When a few entries were seen as favoring royal absolutism, King James I, trying to placate Parliament, summoned Cowell before the Privy Council. The book was suppressed by proclamation. Accounts vary on whether it was ordered to be burned by the public hangman. Cowell soon died in ignominy.
Source
Ex coll. Karolyne & Bryan A. Garner. HHD no. 9
Comments