This site celebrates the rediscovery of the manuscript materials for Boswell’s Dictionary of the Scots Language: a work which James Boswell began to compile in the 1760s, but which he never finished. Over the coming months, I will be adding further information on the content of Boswell’s dictionary, plus updates on my research into the history of the manuscript. In the meantime, a full description of the manuscript discovery, including discussion of its contents and sample entries, will be published in the 2011 issue (no. 32) of Dictionaries: the journal of the Dictionary Society of North America, towards the end of this year (see the DSNA website for more information on this journal).

I hope you will enjoy exploring the various parts of this site. I will also be publishing a regular Boswellian Scots Word feature, highlighting individual words or phrases in Boswell’s manuscript that are particularly interesting or appealing. Please keep checking back for news on this and other features of the site, and feel free to email me with any comments or suggestions (see the About page for my contact details).

Susan Rennie