ABSTRACT
FrancisGrosewasalreadywellknownasanillustratorofarchitecturalandmilitaryantiquities whenhebranchedoutintoanewfieldandpublishedtheClassicalDictionaryoftheVulgar Tonguein1785.Itscombinationofantiquarianmaterial,gleanedfromcantandslanglists datingbacktoDekker'sBelmanofLondon,'withcontemporaryslangandvulgarismsproved tobeirresistible.Itwassosuccessfulthatasecondeditionappearedthreeyearslater.Grose diedin1791,andin1796thethirdeditionofhisdictionarywaspublished.In1931,Eric PartridgechosetoreprintthethirdeditionofGrose'sdictionary.Hewrote:
IhadoriginallyplannedtoreprintthesecondeditionofGrose'sDictionary,butIhavegoodreason tobelievethatthethirdeditionincorporatesmanyofGrose'saddendaandcorrigenda,forthe secondpartwaspublishedthreeyearsbeforehisdeath:andGrosewasnotthesortofmantorest uponhislaurels....Thethirdedition,1796,may...beconsideredthemostimportantofthose whichGrosehimselfrevised.(Partridge1963:vii)
Partridgearguesthatbecausenoadditionaleditor'snameisgiven,weshouldseethis posthumouseditionasthebestrepresentationofGrose'sownwork.Ithasnonewpreface,and surely,hereasons,aneweditorwouldnothavebeenabletoresisttakingcreditforhiswork. TheneweditionwaspublishedbyHooper,aswerethefirsttwo,andmaytherefore,Partridge contends,representGrose'sownpapersleftwithhisbooksellerorpassedontothebookseller byhisfamily.ThispaperconsiderstheevidenceforPartridge'sclaim.
