THE DICTIONARY PROJECT

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The Dictionary Project is a research initiative on the part of the University of Wolverhampton. 3000 terms called HEADWORDS for labeling and describing traded goods in the early modern period were found in the Gloucester port books dating from the seventeenth and early eighteenth century. To date, a further 7000 have been identified from other primary sources. The digital archive of these sources on early-modern trade will form part of the published Dictionary Package.

An understanding of the vocabulary of trade is an essential tool for historians of the early modern period, and yet it is one that is ill served by existing dictionaries and historical research alike. Some bulky commodities such as grain and iron have attracted attention, as have localized industries like the manufacture of buttons in Birmingham or of linen in East Anglia. As well as participating in this research into the more conspicuous goods, the Dictionary will include entries on less well-known items both exotic and mundane such as carnation tape and Daffy's Elixir. Produced as a result of technological advances - small and great - by specialist producers, such consumer goods had an impact on contemporary life throughout the country. The Dictionary aims to be more than a compilation of existing references, offering an informed understanding of the complex relationships between innovation, the market place and the consumer.

Exploring the relationships between words and their textual and cultural contexts

Instead of viewing only illustrative short extracts, available in other dictionaries, users can explore the chronological and contextual development of a term both in the Dictionary and in the Archives (source databases). Where the material permits it,  the Dictionary illuminates the material realities and the contexts of the objects throughout their lifecycles. Consider for one moment the term 'fustian', which was applied to a type of textile. At the beginning of the early modern period the term denoted an imported luxury cloth. But innovations in, and development of, home production resulted in the application of this label to cheaper and widely available copies. By the end of the period, fustians were good quality cloths used to make workmen's clothing. Viewed collectively Dictionary entries identify the necessary tensions between language as a vehicle of expression and as a marker of shifting economic attitudes, appetites and assumptions.

The Dictionary Package is intended to be more than a reference tool. It has been designed to be an interactive resource designed in response to the evolving needs of higher education and lifelong learning. The Archives, linked to the Dictionary database, are searchable. Since they represent a substantial collection of digitalized historical documents on early modern trade, retailing or consumption, each source has been indexed to facilitate research into such topics as invention and innovation, business methods, women and household affairs. The challenges and strengths of each source type will be discussed in an introductory article. 

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