Vocabularius Ex quo: Uberlieferungsgeschichtliche Ausgabe (review)

Over 250 manuscripts and 48 printed versions from 1410–1505 survive of a complex of texts known as Vocabularius Ex quo, a Latin-German dictionary designed to help German-speaking readers comprehend the Bible and other Latin texts. Grubmüller directed this edition, based on 46 carefully selected representative versions. The edition thus provides linguistic data from throughout the fifteenth century and from throughout the German-speaking world of the time.

This most impressive project began in 1972 when a group of German philologists united under the name ‘Würzburger Forschergruppe’ (Würzburg Research Group) with the purpose of editing the most important glossary of the fifteenth-century German speaking world. Funded in large part by research grants from the German federal government (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft), and encouraged by Kurt Ruh, Professor of German at Würzburg, the group achieved what no individual could have managed in a reasonable time frame. Vol. 6, titled ‘Frühneuhochdeutsches Glossenwörterbuch’ (Early New High German Dictionary of Glosses), while serving as an index to Vols. 2–5 (see below), presents an invaluable tool for anyone interested in the early New High German period, in the history of the German language and its dialects, in Late Medieval Latin, and in lexicography. This final volume of a very handsome set is a comprehensive Middle High (1–859) and Middle Low German (860–89) dictionary based on the volumes described below. It follows a critical edition of the entries listed alphabetically by Latin headword (Vols. 2–5, 1988–89; the publisher provided only Vol. 2 of these four for this review; according to the publisher’s advertising, these volumes number nearly 3,000 pages).

Vol. 1, the introduction, traces in necessary detail the complex transmission of the vocabulary lists through numerous versions (redactions), discusses the wealth of information provided by the Latin and German glosses, and outlines the two dictionaries to follow. Some 20,000 Latin words are listed with references to their location in the four-volume edition of the compiled Latin dictionary. Research on the Vocabularius Ex quo which appeared from 1965–1986 is listed. The constant adaptations made to the vocabulary lists over the years provide insights into how knowledge was transmitted during the fifteenth century while at the same time leaving the editor with seemingly insurmountable problems and issues. G and his team have addressed the questions up front, and this monumental edition represents, beyond the testimony of dedication, the results of carefully weighed decisions and accountability. Useful page-sized bookmarks provided with Vols. 1–5 account for the manuscript stemmata, reference numbering system, and abbreviations and symbols used within the articles.

Never before have linguists had such a wealth of information in accessible, accountable fashion on the lexicography of fifteenth-century Germany. German and Latin scholars, and others, will refer to these volumes for years to come. Editors of other glossaries will learn from the model this edition represents.