Published around 1698 by a compiler known only as B. E., this is one of the earliest dictionaries of English slang. After a preface on the antiquity of beggars and gypsies, it defines the cant of thieves, cheats and vagabonds alongside the colloquial phrases and proverbs of ordinary speech, from “Joan in the dark” to the tricks of the cardsharp.
A vivid, often bawdy record of street English, prized by historians of language and readers of Restoration London. Download the free EPUB.