Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 01.djvu/210

---

place his name on the title-page of the first edition of this pamphlet, but he affixed it to ‘the dedication addressed to Sir William Hustler, M.P.,’ one of the members for Northallerton, with whom he appears to have been previously well acquainted. At the end is the following advertisement:—‘Such as desire to discourse the Author upon these Proposals may hear of him at the Book-sellers, or at the Marine Coffee-House in Birchin Lane, after 'Change, who can inform them of Undertakers.’ A second edition, with a few additions, appeared in 1699; and another, also called the second edition, was brought out in 1736 by the notorious Curll, of Rose Street, Covent Garden, probably without Ainsworth's knowledge or consent. 2. An account, in Latin, of the classical antiquities collected by John Kemp, under the title of ‘Monumenta Vetustatis Kempiana, ex vetustis scriptoribus illustrata, eosque vicissim illustrantia; In duas Partes divisa: Quarum Altera Mumias, Simulacra, Statuas, Signa, Lares, Inscriptiones, Vasa, Lucernas, Amuleta, Lapides, Gemmas, Annulos, Fibulas, cum aliis veterum Reliquiis; Altera Nummos, materia modoque diversos, continet.’ London, 1720, 8vo. Besides the catalogue, profusely illustrated with classical references, the volume contains ten long dissertations on Egyptian, Greek, and Roman antiquities; one being a disquisition on the Roman money, ‘De Asse et Partibus ejus,’ which extends to above seventy pages. There is in the British Museum the handsomely bound presentation copv of this work that was sent to Henry Hare, Lord Coleraine. Two manuscript letters, in most elegant handwriting, addressed by Ainsworth to his lordship, and also a manuscript note by Dr. Birch, are prefixed to this copy. 3. An account of ancient Roman coins, drawn up by him and Roger Gale conjointly for the Society of Antiquaries. 4. ‘Ἴσειον, sive, ex Veteris Monumenti Isaici Descriptione, Isidis Delubrum reseratum,’ 1729, 4to, consisting of only four pages, besides the dedication to James West, Esq. 5. ‘De Clypeo Camilli antiquo,’ 1734, 4to, which had previously appeared at the end of the ‘Museum Woodwardianum,’ or account of the antiquarian collections of Dr. John Woodward, published after Woodward's death in 1728, under the superintendence of Ainsworth, by whom it was in part drawn up. 6. A Latin–English Dictionary. About the year 1714 a proposal was made to some of the leading London booksellers for compiling a new ‘Compendious English and Latin Dictionary’ upon the plan of Faber's ‘Thesaurus.’ Ainsworth was engaged to carry out the design. Delays and difficulties arose, and afterwards, on account of Ainsworth's advanced age and a disorder which affected his eyes, Dr. Samuel Patrick was requested to assist in revising the copy after about a dozen sheets had been struck off. Originally the dictionary was intended to be merely a school book, but the dimensions of the scheme were gradually enlarged, and the authorities for the meaning of the words were added. The first edition appeared with the title ‘Thesaurus Linguæ Latinæ compendiarius; or, a Compendious Dictionary of the Latin Tongue, desired principally for the use of the British Nations,’ in one volume, 1736, 4to. It was inscribed to Dr. Richard Mead in a Latin dedication written with Ainsworth's usual elegance of style. The work was at once recognised as superior to other undertakings of a similar kind, and it long remained the best Latin–English Dictionary. A second edition was brought out in 1746 under the superintendence of Dr. Patrick. Dr. John Ward also assisted in this edition, which, like the first, was in one volume 4to. A third edition, with little or no variation, followed in 1751 under the care of Mr. Kimber, and a fourth in one volume, folio, in 1752, with great improvements by the Rev. William Young, assisted by Ward. An edition, in two vols. 8vo, was published in 1758, under the inspection of Nathanael Thomas, who corrected a fourth edition in 4to, 1761. Another edition, in two vols. 4to, was produced in 1773 under the care of the Rev. Thomas Morell,and many other editions have since appeared, some of them quite recently. One of them, in a single 8vo volume, was reprinted at London in 1829 from the edition of 1752, with numerous additions, emendations, and improvements by the Rev. B. W. B. Beatson, M.A., and William Ellis, M.A. The sum received by Ainsworth for the first edition was 666l. 17s. 6d. For the second edition Ainsworth's executors were paid 250l., Dr. Patrick 101l. 11s. 9d., and Dr. Ward 26l. 5s. Kimber had 21l. for correcting the third edition; and Young 184l. 10s. for his improvements in the folio. Besides these sums 218l. 8s. had been paid by the booksellers to Dr. Morell for correcting Ainsworth, and 261l. 12s. to Mr. Thomas, making a total, up to 1773, of 1,730l. 10s. 3d.

[Memoir prefixed to second edition of the Thesaurus; Biog. Brit. ed. Kippis; George L. Craik, in Biog. Dict. Soc. D.U.K. i. 570; Rev. J. E. B. Mayor, in Notes and Queries (1883), Ser. 6, v. vii. 64; Reliquiæ Hearnianæ, 2nd edit. ii. 157. iii. 13, 15, 20, 151; Nichols's Lit. Anecd. v. 248–254: Lysons's Environs of London, iii.