The ECEG-database
ECEG is a new electronic resource for the study of the eighteenth-century grammatical tradition. More precisely, it is a database which compiles, for the first time, information about eighteenth-century English grammars as gathered from earlier bibliographies, collections and scholarly studies published over the last hundred years (1927-2008). In the fullest detail possible, ECEG includes not only bibliographic information about grammars but also biographical information about the grammar-writers. In addition, the bio-bibliographic information has been thoroughly coded by thematic fields such as year of publication, place of printing, target audience, gender and occupation of the author, etc.
ECEG was released in December 2010 in free electronic, user-friendly browsable and searchable format.
Although primarily addressed to scholars working in the eighteenth-century grammatical tradition, it is hoped that the bio-bibliographic nature of ECEG will benefit students and researchers in other disciplines such as literary studies (e.g. interest in the life of the grammar-writers) and historical studies (e.g. interest in book production and publication history). Ultimately, in the belief that this century "was a key phase in the development of the English language" (Görlach 2001: 12), it is also hoped that ECEG will contribute to the process of 'de-cinderellisation' of the eighteenth century in the history of English (see Pérez-Guerra et al. 2007: 12-13).
María Esther Rodríguez-Gil & Nuria Yáñez-Bouza (eceg@manchester.ac.uk)
Acknowledgements
The ECEG-database project is financially supported by the British Academy Small Research Grant Scheme for the two-year period July 2008 - July 2010, now extended until December 2010.
We warmly thank Massimo Sturiale (University of Catania, Sicily) for his excellent organisation of the Second International Conference of New Perspectives on Prescriptivism (April 2006) - not only because it was an intellectually inspiring and socially enjoyable event, but also and mainly because it was there where this project took off.
ECEG was first presented at the Third International Conference of Late Modern English (Leiden, 31 August - 1 September 2007). We would like to thank the audience and, especially, Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade and Joan Beal for comments and suggestions.
Special thanks go as well to Robin C. Alston for his interest in the project, for generously sharing his data before publication and, above all, for his indefatigable efforts and diligent work over forty years.
We are immensely grateful to Antonio Torres for the design and technical support of the Microsoft Access database. His wise advice and attention to detail, his patience and good will have been key to the project. We thank Chris White for preparing the online version of the database (March - December 2010), and Marije van Hattum and Purva Bachani for temporary assistantship.
The scope of the database wouldn't have been possible without the generous help and collaboration of the staff at many libraries in the UK and America. Our gratitude to all of them. In England: The John Rylands, Deansgate and The John Rylands University Library in Manchester; Birmingham Archives & Heritage, Birmingham Central Library; Durham Cathedral University Library, Durham; The Brotherton Library, Leeds University Library; Sydney Jones Library, University of Liverpool; The British Library, The Senate House Library, The London Institute of Education, and Victoria and Albert Museum Archives in London; Robinson Library, Newcastle University; Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham; Bodleian Library, Oxford; York Minster Library, York. In Scotland: Library and Historic Collections, University of Aberdeen; National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh; Glasgow University Library and The Mitchell Library in Glasgow. In Ireland: National Library of Ireland and Trinity College, Dublin. In Wales: The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. In America: The Lilly Library, University of Indiana, Bloomington; Boston Public Library, Boston; Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge MA.; Honnold Library, Claremont Colleges, CA; Perkins Library, Duke University, Durham NC; Dartmouth College Library, Hanover NH; Archives and Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln NE; Butler Library, Columbia University, New York; The New York Public Library, New York; The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Library Company Philadelphia, Philadelphia; American Antiquarian Society, Worcester Mass.; Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University Library, NH.