Medical Lexicography in the 19th century across the Pond: Richard D. Hoblyn’s Dictionary

Abstract

During the 19th century there was an extraordinary rise in the development of medical lexicographic works in France and Germany, which gradually spread to other places like Spain, Italy or Great Britain, for instance; furthermore, the success of some of these works made them cross the pond and, therefore, were published in America. A good example is the medical terminological dictionary by Richard D. Hoblyn, which was released in London in 1835 and became so popular that was edited multiple times during the century: in 1844 the second London edition was published, which became, only a year later, source for the northamerican edition, published in Philadelphia in 1845. To explain the success of A Dictionary of Terms used in Medicine and the Collateral Sciences, both in the United Kingdom and in the United States, especially if we bear in mind that other dictionaries were printed, in this paper we will answer several questions which rise up when comparing both editions (London and Philadelphia): What headwords are included? How is information organized? that is, as far as micro and macrostructure are concerned, so we are be able to answer our last question, for whom was the dictionary destined?