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}}Robert Ainsworth was born in 1660 in the parish of Eccles, about four miles from Manchester, England.<ref>R. D. Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert (1660–1743), lexicographer and schoolmaster." <i>Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.</i> 23 Sep. 2004; Accessed 1 Oct. 2025. [https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-241.]</ref> He taught school in Bolton before becoming the master of a boarding school at Bethnal Green.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref> He wrote on a number of pedagogical topics and was one of the earliest proponents of total immersion for language learning.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref> In 1714, he was nominated to create a new Latin and English dictionary, and the first edition was published in 1736 with the assistance of Dr. Samuel Patrick.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref> While Ainsworth died in 1743, various abridgements and editions would continue to be published until 1882.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref>
}}Robert Ainsworth was born in 1660 in the parish of Eccles, about four miles from Manchester, England.<ref>R. D. Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert (1660–1743), lexicographer and schoolmaster." <i>Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.</i> 23 Sep. 2004; Accessed 1 Oct. 2025. [https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-241.]</ref> He taught school in Bolton before becoming the master of a boarding school at Bethnal Green.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref> He wrote on a number of pedagogical topics and was one of the earliest proponents of total immersion for language learning.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref> In 1714, he was nominated to create a new Latin and English dictionary, and the first edition was published in 1736 with the assistance of Dr. Samuel Patrick.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref> While Ainsworth died in 1743, various abridgements and editions would continue to be published until 1882.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref>


This dictionary was designed for use in schools and in teaching the formal use of both English and Latin for formal composition.<ref>''An Abridgement of the last Quarto Edition'' "[https://books.google.com/books?id=cu8-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PT3&lpg=PT3&dq=An+Abridgement+of+the+last+Quarto+Edition+of+Ainsworth%27s+Dictionary,+English+and+Latin&source=bl&ots=KrAPCussFt&sig=hKbAbGjENuVGetTrlsPadAFR9Q0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CC0Q6AEwA2oVChMIvZ2kvMT7xwIVyVc-Ch00Nwr_#v=onepage&q=An%20Abridgement%20of%20the%20last%20Quarto%20Edition%20of%20Ainsworth's%20Dictionary%2C%20English%20and%20Latin&f=false]"</ref>  The abridgment omits full verb declination instead focusing on a more efficient presentation of the verb form and a description of the pattern it follows.<ref>Ibid.</ref> This was done for pedagogical purposes, to attempt to force students to remember the declination and verb forms of the Latin they had to learn.<ref>Ibid.</ref> The dictionary also contains explanations of homonyms to assist translators in the English section, as well as illustrative quotations from classical authors in the Latin section.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref> Along with its linguistic content, the dictionary has a great deal of supplementary information, including a historical account of Latin through the ages,<ref>Robert Ainsworth, <i>Thesaurus linguæ latinæ compendiarius: or, a compendious dictionary of the Latin tongue: designed for the use of the British nations: In three parts. ... By Robert Ainsworth.</i> 3rd ed., printed by C. and J. Ackers, for W. Mount and T. Page, W. Innys, R. Ware, J. and P. Knapton [and 15 others in London], 1751. <i>Eighteenth Century Collections Online,</i> link.gale.com/apps/doc/CW0113839171/ECCO?u=viva_wm&sid=bookmark-ECCO&xid=239cb89c&pg=28. Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.</ref> a list of common names and their English and Latin etymology,<ref>Ainsworth, <i>Thesaurus linguæ latinæ compendiarius.</i></ref> and even a list of Latin words that were used in Roman law.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref>
This dictionary was designed for use in schools and in teaching the formal use of both English and Latin for formal composition.<ref> Robert Ainsworth and Thomas Morell, <i>An Abridgement of the last Quarto Edition,</i> (Charles Rivington, 1790) "[https://books.google.com/books?id=cu8-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PT3&lpg=PT3&dq=An+Abridgement+of+the+last+Quarto+Edition+of+Ainsworth%27s+Dictionary,+English+and+Latin&source=bl&ots=KrAPCussFt&sig=hKbAbGjENuVGetTrlsPadAFR9Q0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CC0Q6AEwA2oVChMIvZ2kvMT7xwIVyVc-Ch00Nwr_#v=onepage&q=An%20Abridgement%20of%20the%20last%20Quarto%20Edition%20of%20Ainsworth's%20Dictionary%2C%20English%20and%20Latin&f=false]."</ref>  The abridgment omits full verb declination instead focusing on a more efficient presentation of the verb form and a description of the pattern it follows.<ref>Ainsworth and Morell, <i>An Abridgement</i>.</ref> This was done for pedagogical purposes, to attempt to force students to remember the declination and verb forms of the Latin they had to learn.<ref>Ainsworth and Morell, <i>An Abridgement</i>.</ref> The dictionary also contains explanations of homonyms to assist translators in the English section, as well as illustrative quotations from classical authors in the Latin section.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref> Along with its linguistic content, the dictionary has a great deal of supplementary information, including a historical account of Latin through the ages,<ref>Robert Ainsworth, <i>Thesaurus linguæ latinæ compendiarius: or, a compendious dictionary of the Latin tongue: designed for the use of the British nations: In three parts. ... By Robert Ainsworth.</i> 3rd ed., printed by C. and J. Ackers, for W. Mount and T. Page, W. Innys, R. Ware, J. and P. Knapton [and 15 others in London], 1751. <i>Eighteenth Century Collections Online,</i> [link.gale.com/apps/doc/CW0113839171/ECCO?u=viva_wm&sid=bookmark-ECCO&xid=239cb89c&pg=28.] Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.</ref> a list of common names and their English and Latin etymology,<ref>Ainsworth, <i>Thesaurus linguæ latinæ compendiarius.</i></ref> and even a list of Latin words that were used in Roman law.<ref>Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."</ref>


==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==

Revision as of 18:56, 1 October 2025

by Robert Ainsworth

Ainsworth's Dictionary
Title not held by The Wolf Law Library
at the College of William & Mary.
  
Author Robert Ainsworth
Editor
Translator
Published :
Date
Edition Precise edition unknown
Language
Volumes volume set
Pages
Desc. 8vo

Robert Ainsworth was born in 1660 in the parish of Eccles, about four miles from Manchester, England.[1] He taught school in Bolton before becoming the master of a boarding school at Bethnal Green.[2] He wrote on a number of pedagogical topics and was one of the earliest proponents of total immersion for language learning.[3] In 1714, he was nominated to create a new Latin and English dictionary, and the first edition was published in 1736 with the assistance of Dr. Samuel Patrick.[4] While Ainsworth died in 1743, various abridgements and editions would continue to be published until 1882.[5]

This dictionary was designed for use in schools and in teaching the formal use of both English and Latin for formal composition.[6] The abridgment omits full verb declination instead focusing on a more efficient presentation of the verb form and a description of the pattern it follows.[7] This was done for pedagogical purposes, to attempt to force students to remember the declination and verb forms of the Latin they had to learn.[8] The dictionary also contains explanations of homonyms to assist translators in the English section, as well as illustrative quotations from classical authors in the Latin section.[9] Along with its linguistic content, the dictionary has a great deal of supplementary information, including a historical account of Latin through the ages,[10] a list of common names and their English and Latin etymology,[11] and even a list of Latin words that were used in Roman law.[12]

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as "Ainsworth's dict. Eng. Abridged. 8vo." This was one of the titles kept by Thomas Jefferson and possibly later sold to the Library of Congress in 1815.[13] Brown's Bibliography[14] lists the 1774 London edition while George Wythe's Library[15] on LibraryThing) indicates "Precise edition unknown. Octavo abridgments were published in 1774, 1785, 1790, 1794, and 1798."

To date, the Wolf Law Library has been unable to locate a copy of Ainsworth's Abridgement.

See also

References

External Links

Read the third edition (1790) of this book in Google Books

  1. ↑ R. D. Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert (1660–1743), lexicographer and schoolmaster." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 23 Sep. 2004; Accessed 1 Oct. 2025. [1]
  2. ↑ Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."
  3. ↑ Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."
  4. ↑ Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."
  5. ↑ Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."
  6. ↑ Robert Ainsworth and Thomas Morell, An Abridgement of the last Quarto Edition, (Charles Rivington, 1790) "[2]."
  7. ↑ Ainsworth and Morell, An Abridgement.
  8. ↑ Ainsworth and Morell, An Abridgement.
  9. ↑ Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."
  10. ↑ Robert Ainsworth, Thesaurus linguæ latinæ compendiarius: or, a compendious dictionary of the Latin tongue: designed for the use of the British nations: In three parts. ... By Robert Ainsworth. 3rd ed., printed by C. and J. Ackers, for W. Mount and T. Page, W. Innys, R. Ware, J. and P. Knapton [and 15 others in London], 1751. Eighteenth Century Collections Online, [link.gale.com/apps/doc/CW0113839171/ECCO?u=viva_wm&sid=bookmark-ECCO&xid=239cb89c&pg=28.] Accessed 1 Oct. 2025.
  11. ↑ Ainsworth, Thesaurus linguæ latinæ compendiarius.
  12. ↑ Smith, "Ainsworth, Robert."
  13. ↑ E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1952-1959), 5:91 [no.4803]. Jefferson noted "Ainsworth's dict. Lat. Eng. abridged. 2.v. 8vo." in the 1815 catalogue of he books sold to the Library of Congress. Since he doesn't list Wythe's copy as a 2 volume set, Wythe's may have been one of the numerous single volume editions.
  14. ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433.
  15. ↑ LibraryThing, s.v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on May 2, 2023.
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