Richard Cleasby
Richard Cleasby (1797–1847) was an English philologist, author with Guðbrandur Vigfússon of the first Icelandic-English dictionary.
Life
He was born on 30 November 1797, the eldest son of Stephen Cleasby, and the brother of
A liver complaint often sent him to Carlsbad, and he occasionally revisited England. His first visit to Denmark and Sweden was in May 1834, and he became attracted by Scandinavian subjects. In 1839 he collated the Codex Argenteus at Uppsala, and in January 1840 he formed the plan of his Icelandic-English Dictionary, starting work by April. He worked while travelling between England, German spas, and Copenhagen, where he had amanuenses. In the summer of 1847 his health grew worse, and on 6 October he died of an attack of typhoid fever.
The poetical vocabulary, prepared under his direction by Sveinbjörn Egilsson, was ready for publication in 1846. In the following year Cleasby had set up in type specimens of the prose dictionary. Arrangements were made for the completion of the work at Copenhagen. After some false starts and the temporary loss of some of Cleasby's papers,
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Cleasby, Richard". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
External links
- An Icelandic-English Dictionary by Richard Cleasby and Gudbrand Vigfusson, published in 1874.