Novus linguæ et eruditionis romanæ thesaurus 2 volumes - Gessner, Johann Matthias 1691-1761; George II King of Great Britain 1683-1760; Bernigeroth, Johann Martin 1713-1767 (Leipzig Vidus Breitkopf, 1749)
Frontispiece line engraving: portrait of Gesnerus by Johann Martin Bernigeroth (1713-1767) after F. Reibenstein.
As early as between 1726 and 1735, Gesner worked on improved new editions of the Thesaurus eruditionis scholasticae, first published in 1571 by Basilius Faber, which is one of the most frequently printed lexicons of the early modern period. In 1733, Gesner first thought about a completely new lexicon of the Latin language and estimated that it would take three years to complete. When the four-volume Novus Linguæ Et Eruditionis Romanae Thesaurus finally appeared in 1749, it represented the result of twelve years' work. Gesner's lexicon differed from those of his predecessors primarily in three points: in his selection of vocabulary, Gesner restricted himself exclusively to ancient sources and omitted all Middle and New Latin expressions. Furthermore, he did not place any German-language equivalents alongside the Latin expressions - out of the conviction that the meaning must be derived from the original evidence. Finally, Gesner arranged the internal structure of the articles strictly chronologically according to the development of words and meanings.
Includes an index of 291 pages
Bound in white vellum
Keywords: 18th Century (1701-1800); Dictionary; Linguistics; Leipzig (Germany)