£300
2 vols., 4to, pp. [ii], xxiv, [578]; [746]. Text printed in triple columns. Contemporary diced calf, boards bordered with gilt rolls enclosing gilt corner-pieces, spines divided by raised bands, lettered direct and tooled elaborately in gilt, edges red. Some rubbing to edges, spines lightly sunned and a little creased, boards somewhat marked. Armorial bookplates of the North Library of Shirburn Castle to pastedowns, embossment of the Earls of Macclesfield to first few leaves.
The 'definitive form' (ODNB) of Ainsworth's monumental Latin-English dictionary, 20 years in the making. It was first printed in 1736, with Ainsworth's friend Samuel Patrick shepherding it through the press on account of Ainsworth's declining eyesight. Patrick further revised the work for this second edition in concert with Ainsworth, which appeared three years after Ainsworth's death. 'Although all dictionaries of the time were eclectic rather than innovatory, there were at least two points on which Ainsworth's Thesaurus marked a major advance in English lexicography. In the English–Latin section Ainsworth greatly facilitated the task of the young translator by systematically providing explanations of homonyms so that the reader could select the appropriate word for his purpose [...] In the Latin–English section his citation of illustrative quotations from classical authors helped move the Thesaurus towards becoming an authority for classical Latin.' (ODNB). It was regularly revised and reprinted through into the second half of the nineteenth century.
This copy, from the extensive library of the Earls of Macclesfield, shows some attractive contemporary adaptations for use: sections are demarcated by different concentrations of red to the page-edges and paper tabs affixed to the fore-edges.
