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 biographic information about their grammar-writers. Besides, 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.
It is envisaged that the first version of ECEG will be released in December 2010 in free electronic, user-friendly browseable 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 to end November 2010.
We warmly thank Massimo Sturiale (University of Catania, Sicily) for an 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.
Last, but not least, we are immensely grateful to Antonio Torres for the design and technical support of the database. His sound advice and attention to detail, his patience and good will, and the many late nights have been key to the project.