''Meanderings of Memory'' is a rare book published in London in 1852 and attributed to Nightlark (probably a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

). Although it is cited as a first or early source for over 50 entries in the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

'' (OED), the current OED editors have been unable to locate a surviving copy. OED editors made their search for the elusive source public in May 2013.

OED citations

The OED is a comprehensive multi-volume

historical dictionary A historical dictionary or dictionary on historical principles is a dictionary which deals not only with the latterday meanings of words but also the historical development of their forms and meanings. It may also describe the vocabulary of an earl ...

, whose first edition was published in installments called fascicles between 1884 and 1928. The definition of every

sense A sense is a biological system used by an organism for sensation, the process of gathering information about the world through the detection of Stimulus (physiology), stimuli. (For example, in the human body, the brain which is part of the cen ...

of every

headword In morphology and lexicography, a lemma (plural ''lemmas'' or ''lemmata'') is the canonical form, dictionary form, or citation form of a set of word forms. In English, for example, ''break'', ''breaks'', ''broke'', ''broken'' and ''breaking'' a ...

entry is accompanied by quotations, listed chronologically, from cited sources, to illustrate when and how the word was used. These citations were mostly submitted to the editors by volunteer readers in what current OED editors describe as an early instance of what is now called

crowdsourcing Crowdsourcing involves a large group of dispersed participants contributing or producing goods or services—including ideas, votes, micro-tasks, and finances—for payment or as volunteers. Contemporary crowdsourcing often involves digita ...

. The editors selected a subset of quotations, including the earliest one for a given sense, for inclusion. They typically verified the citations given, though some might be taken on trust based on the submitter's reputation or previous reliability. The first edition of the OED included citations from ''Meanderings of Memory'' for senses of 50 entries: ''chapelled'', ''cock-a-bondy'', ''couchward'', ''day'', ''dike''/''dyke'', ''droop'', ''dump'', ''epistle'', ''extemporize'', ''fancy'', ''flambeau'', ''flesh'', ''foodless'', ''fringy'', ''full'', ''gigantomachy'', ''goal'', ''goalward'', ''hearthward'', ''idol'', ''inscriptionless'', ''lump'', ''peaceless'', ''rape'', ''re-'' (prefix), ''reliefless'', ''rheumatize'', ''sanctuaried'', ''sap'', ''sarcophage'', ''scarf'', ''scavage'', ''shoe'', ''slippery'', ''sun'', ''templed'', ''transplanter'', ''tribe'', ''tribunal'', ''trouse'', ''trunked'', ''un-'' (prefix), ''unbusy'', ''unstuff'', ''vermined'', ''vulgar'', ''warmthless'', ''wen'', ''whinge'', and ''width''. In 2010, the third edition of the OED added the word ''revirginize'', whose earliest citation is the 51st from ''Meanderings of Memory''. Inspection of the original submission slips in the OED archive in 2013 revealed that they came from Edward Peacock (1831–1915), an

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

, writer, and regular OED volunteer reader living near

Brigg Brigg ( /'brɪg/) is a market town in North Lincolnshire, England, with a population of 5,076 in the 2001 UK census, the population increased to 5,626 at the 2011 census. The town lies at the junction of the River Ancholme and east–west tra ...

in Lincolnshire.

OED revision

The second (1989) edition of the OED retained almost all the information of the first edition essentially unrevised. The third edition (publication ongoing since 2000) is fully revisiting all entries. A staff member revising the entry for ''revirginize'' in 2013 sought to verify the word's earliest citation, from ''Meanderings of Memory'': "Where that cosmetic ... Shall e'er revirginize that brow's abuse". When the staffer failed to locate the work, OED chief

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliography ...

Veronica Hurst launched a deeper search. No copy could be located; Hurst found no mention in

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, the

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

or other works consulted; and confirmation of the book's existence initially rested entirely upon a short listing in an 1854 catalogue of G. Gancia, a

bookseller Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of librari ...

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

: Investigating the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

epigraph was another dead end. It translates to "why did my tears please you more, my

Philomel Philomel is another name for Philomela, a character from Greek mythology. It may refer to: Nature * A nightingale Arts and Letters * An abbreviated form of the name Philomela, a figure in Greek mythology often invoked as a symbol in literature. * ...

?" and does not appear to be a quotation from another work.

Public appeal

On 3 May 2013, OED editors posted about the book on the "OED Appeals" section of the website, which continues the volunteer-reader tradition by asking the public for help with the history of particular words or other lexicographic issues. The original post was: The appeal was reported in the general media.

Ongoing search

Seven Gancia catalogues are bound in a volume once owned by an A. F. Rodger, now in the Oxford University library and on Google Books. Three of these list ''Meanderings of Memory'', with variations in detail and price: the Third Catalogue for 1852 on page 20; the First Catalogue for 1854 on page 10; and the Second Catalogue for 1854 (referred to by the OED) on page 27."G. Gancia's Second Catalogue for 1854 of Rare Books and Manuscripts of extraordinary beauty, Early-Printed Books, Romances, Poetry, Aldines, Elzeviers, Chronicles, Books of Prints, Travels, &c., on sale at 73, King's Road, Brighton." p.27
(in ''7 bookseller's catalogues'') The

John Rylands Library The John Rylands Research Institute and Library is a late-Victorian neo-Gothic building on Deansgate in Manchester, England. It is part of the University of Manchester. The library, which opened to the public in 1900, was founded by Enriquet ...

, which contains many of Edward Peacock's private papers, found no copy of ''Meanderings of Memory''. Hurst suggested the book might contain content considered pornographic by Victorians, potentially resulting in nonstandard cataloguing. It might have been self- or privately published with a very small

print run Print circulation is the average number of copies of a publication. The number of copies of a non-periodical publication (such as a book) are usually called print run. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulat ...

. Following the appeal to the public, another reference to ''Meanderings of Memory'' was found in an 1854

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

catalogue, which rendered less likely the notion that the work might be a hoax by a nineteenth-century miscreant. Identification of Peacock as the reader corroborated this. Given the "flowery" character of the work's quotations appearing in the OED, and in light of the Sotheby's auction record, Hurst postulates that ''Meanderings of Memory'' may turn out to be a short book of poetry.

Notes

References

OED (1st edition)

Other

* *
Google Books scan
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Bodleian Library scan
(PDF 96.6 MB)

Citations

External links

OED Appeals: ''Meanderings of Memory'', unknown source
{{Authority control 1852 non-fiction books Lexicography Crowdsourcing Lost books Works of unknown authorship Oxford English Dictionary