Editorial

DICTIONARIES HAS PUBLISHED SEVERAL SPECIAL-TOPIC FORUMS in recent years, but this is the first special issue to appear in the journal in quite some time. In 2002, then-editor Michael Adams edited a special issue on "The Middle English Dictionary and Historical Lexicography" to celebrate completion of the MED. All but one of the articles in the special issue had been presented at the 2001 meeting of the Dictionary Society of North America, held at the University of Michigan, home of the Middle English Dictionary.

Initiated into historical lexicography as an editorial assistant on the MED project, Michael Adams serves as guest editor for the current issue. For this special issue, he has curated and edited a selection of articles under the umbrella he calls "Problems of Chronology in Historical Lexicography and Lexicology." All but one of the articles in this issue were presented at the International Conference on Historical Lexicography and Lexicology that met at Indiana University at Bloomington in 2016.

Like its predecessor, this special issue contains only articles related to the topic; no reviews or reference works in progress contributions appear. The next issue of the journal will contain reviews and reference works in progress contributions, as well as articles. Future volumes of Dictionaries will aim to strike a balance between regular issues containing a variety of contributions to all sections of the journal and special issues or forums that focus on specific topics.

In his introduction to this special issue, guest editor Adams expresses his appreciation to the contributors and the two referees who read all the articles and offered valuable counsel that helped bring the volume to fruition. I echo that appreciation and express my gratitude as well to Michael Adams. His introduction to the issue is thorough and enlightening and leaves no need for anything further to be said here.