The Universal Etymological English Dictionary: in Two Parts... Vol. II [WITH:] An Orthographical Dictionary, Shewing Both the Orthography and the Orthoepia of the English Tongue [AND:] A Universal Etymological English Dictionary

London: for J. Darby, [et al.] / for T. Cox, 1727. First edition in part. Hardcover. Very good-. Three parts in two volumes, octavo, printed in 1727 and 1728. Unpaginated, text in double columns. Uniformly bound in contemporary blind tooled paneled calf. Spines darkended; joints cracked (but cords holding nicely); old stamped spine labels perished, else very good.

Nathan Bailey was "easily the most important lexicographer before Johnson... Bailey’s dictionary was a distinct improvement on its predecessors because (a) it was more comprehensive in scope, (b) it laid increasing emphasis on etymology, (c) it gave in the edition of 1731 aid, though of an elementrary sort, in syllabification and pronunciation. Other features of the work were the inclusion of illustrations in a fuller supplementary volume of 1727, and the introduction of proverbs and current sayings. Accent marks were also used in this 1727 volume” (Mathews, English Dictionaries, p. 28). Regarding these innovative illustrations in The Universal of 1727, they appear to accompany all of the heraldic terms.

Vol. 2 for T. Cox is the first edition; vol. 1, for J. Darby, [et al.] is the fourth edition.

Provenance: contemporary dated entries of Robt. Smith (1727), Magdalen College, Cambridge with purchase notes; Jon. Freeman (1737).