Spurrell’s Welsh Dictionaries

Pedigrees sometimes go back a long way in dictionaries. The name Spurrell counts for something, even today, when it has long been overtaken by time and better things: the fact that it still sells well and is even still recommended by some teachers is testament to how firmly rooted it is in the popular memory. If you ever wonder why it is that some of the words in your Spurrell are so old-fashioned and quaint-sounding, even though it appears to date from the 1990s, and has a snazzy modern-looking cover, you might be interested to know that the guts of this venerable publication go back to the 1850s.

William Spurrell (1813–89), a printer in Camarthen, published many new books in and about the Welsh language, foremost among which were a Welsh–English dictionary and an English–Welsh dictionary. His son Walter (1858–1934) carried them on and brought out new editions. Eventually the long-established Glasgow firm of William Collins and Sons, now HarperCollins Publishers, put them together into one slim volume as the Collins–Spurrell Welsh Dictionary, and this old warhorse is still one of the most widely-available titles in a now crowded market. Here is a summary of its publishing history:

• Spurrell, William (1848) A Dictionary of the Welsh Language, with English Synonymes and Explanations/Geiriadur Cymraeg a Saesoneg. Carmarthen: William Spurrell.

• Spurrell, William (1850) An English–Welsh Pronouncing Dictionary [ . . . ]/Geiriadur Cynaniaeithol Saesoneg a Chymraeg [ . . . ]. Carmarthen: William Spurrell.

• Anwyl, J Bodfan (1914) Spurrell’s Welsh–English Dictionary [6th ed.]. Carmarthen: Walter Spurrell.

• Lewis, Henry (ed.) (1960) Collins–Spurrell Welsh Dictionary. London and Glasgow: William Collins Sons and Co. Ltd. ISBN 0-00-433402-7. 317pp.
Foreword, Preface, The Welsh Language, Notes on Pronunciation, List of Abbreviations [used in the dict.], Welsh–English Dictionary, Personal Names, Place Names, English–Welsh Dictionary.
“Re-edited by Henry Lewis”, Professor of Welsh Language and Literature at University College Swansea.

• (The) Collins Spurrell (Pocket) Welsh Dictionary (1991) [new ed.]. London and Glasgow: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0-00-433549-X. xii/372pp. Vinyl “flexicover”.
“In collaboration with Dr David A. Thorne and the Department of Welsh Language and Literature, St David’s University College, Lampeter.”
Contents, Introduction, Notes on Pronunciation, List of Abbreviations [used in the dict.], Welsh–English Dictionary, Personal Names, Place Names, English–Welsh Dictionary.
Not clear what the exact title is supposed to be. Some additions and some deletions of older words, but no change to the overall nature of the dictionary. 35,000 references and 50,000 translations claimed.

• Collins Gem Welsh Dictionary (1992). London and Glasgow: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0-00-470199-2. xi/372pp. Vinyl “flexicover”.
Contents, Introduction, Notes on Pronunciation, List of Abbreviations [used in the dict.], Welsh–English Dictionary, Personal Names, Place Names, English–Welsh Dictionary.
Genuinely pocket-sized photo-reduction of the Pocket, dictionary text identical. Recent printings seem to have slightly thicker paper to make the book look bigger!

Thus it is that an entry like

alack, [ . . . ] int. och fi!
[Spurrell 1850]

profedigaethus, a, beset with trials
[Anwyl 1914]