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A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary and Expositor of the English Language

The final installment!

Happy holidays from everyone here at Rare Books and Special Collections! As an early Christmas gift, we offer the final student dictionary report from the course English 320: History of the English Language. As I mentioned in last week’s post, the exhibition, The Road to the OED, has been extended until the end of January, so please […]

English Etymology

The etymology of Lemon…George Lemon

With the holidays just around the corner, I know you are all worried about making time (in between shopping, baking, wrapping, packing, cleaning, etc.) to visit The Road to the OED exhibition at Rare Books and Special Collections before it closes on December 24. Well, worry no longer! The exhibition has been extended until the […]

Hugh Thomson's illustration from Austen's Persuasion

Happy 238th birthday!

Today, December 16, is Jane Austen’s 238th birthday! I have quite a soft spot for our Jane, so I was too excited when a generous private donor gifted a first edition of Pride and Prejudice to Rare Books and Special Collections last year. We are also fortunate enough to have a first edition of Emma, […]

A General Dictionary of the English Language

An actor turned lexicographer

Now that classes at UBC are over, it’s a great time to stop by Rare Books and Special Collection to see our current exhibition The Road to the OED: A History of English-Language Dictionaries. In this week’s student dictionary report from the course English 320: History of the English Language, we learn about Thomas Sheridan, an […]