List of books already read (1879)

Welcome to the facsimile text of the List of eighteenth century books and of American books, already read, issued in 1879.

The list was apparently printed in 1879 for the guidance of American readers wishing to know what they might read for the Dictionary. The idea that American contributors should be responsible for eighteenth century literature was originally suggested by Herbert Coleridge in 1859; Coleridge writes about this in his letter of May 1860 to Dean Trench, which was published in the Appendix of On some deficiencies in our English Dictionaries.

The images were captured from rare documents belonging to the official OED archives, which are housed in the Archive Department at Oxford University Press. For further information, please contact Martin Maw, Archivist, Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP, UK.

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