ABSTRACT
Junius, who made a transcript, and others. 81 [See] A Restitution of Decayed Intelligence: In Antiquities Concerning the most noble and renowmed English Nation (Antwerp, 1605), pp. 207-239. [He introduces the section] (p. 206) with the words: "I wil beer seek to content the curious reader by Alphabetically explaning a number of our moste ancient English woords, some by their modern orthography, others by showing, (with the signification of them) what French woords wee haue taken in steed of them, as also such as wee haue not left of, but stil vse for choise, though wee haue borrowed woords in French to lyke sence." He evidently expected his work to be used, for he wrote (pp. 239-240): "I could heerin haue enlarged my self very much, and preaduenture haue much pleasured some of our English poets, with great choise of our own woords, which as occasion requyred they might, with more reason renew and bring in vse again (by som-what facilitating yf need were the orthographie) then to become the borrowers and perpetual debters of such languages as wil not bee beholding to vs for somuch as a woord, and when wee haue gotten from them as many woords as wee wil, they can neuer carry a true correspondence vnot ours, they beeing of other nature and original." 82 [See] "De Lingua Anglica vetere, sive Saxonica; e jusque cum Graeca cognatione," in De Quatuor Linguis Commentationis, Pars prior (London, 1650), pages 127-418). At the back, following page 72 of the appendix, was "Verborum Anglicorum, quorum rationes ex Gracis ostenduntur, Index;' which made his work available in vocabulary form. 83 [See] A Restitution of Decayed Intelligence (Antwerp, 1605), 72 pages, paged separately. Two years later, Somner publihsed another glossary of old words, "Glossarium in quo Obscuriora quaeque vocabula, que toto hoc opere continentur, copise explicator," in HistoriaJ AnglicanaJ Scriptores Decem, edited by Sir Roger Twysden (London, 1652), sigs. X3-Dd7v (folio in threes, except [the] last gathering mentioned), consisting of Latin words with notes on the vernacular equivalents.
