A BAWDY 17th century dictionary of slang housed in Oxford’s Bodleian Library is to be reissued with a new introduction.

Originally entitled A New Dictionary of Terms, Ancient and Modern, of the Canting Crew, the 1699 volume has been given a modern makeover by staff at the library.

It has been renamed The First English Dictionary of Slang and is published next month.

The aim of the original volume was to educate the polite London classes in ‘canting’ – the language of ruffians and thieves.

John Simpson, chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, who wrote the introduction, said: “It’s a fascinating volume which gives a real flavour of the language at the time.

“The definitions are colourful as well as the words themselves – they are not at all formal.

“The book is one of the standard sources we check when we are adding new words to the Oxford English Dictionary, so I have known about it for years, and was delighted when the Bodleian phoned up and asked me to write the introduction.

“My own favourite word is dimber-damber, which means ‘a top-man or prince among the canting crew, and also the chief rogue of the gang or the ‘compleatest’ cheat’.”

With more than 4,000 entries, the dictionary contains many words which are now part of everyday speech, such as chitchat and eyesore, as well as many which have become obsolete.

The landmark volume from 1699 was compiled and published anonymously by an author who used the pseudonym BE Gent.

l The First English Dictionary of Slang will be published on September 23, priced at £12.99.

affrench@oxfordmail.co.uk