Not Noah's Dictionary

October 16th was "Dictionary Day," so named because it is Noah Webster's birthday. Sure, we have lots of editions of Webster's dictionary, from his initial 1806 attempt to catalog American English to the final beast of a book published in 1828. But, while those are cool and all, they are not exactly hep to the times, so today we feature our suite of Cab Calloway lexicological lessons including the 1944 Cab Calloway's Hepsters Dictionary: the Language of Jive. Like Webster, Calloway was looking to define a specific form of English.

It is hard to tell if Calloway was trying to be a serious lexicographer when he wrote these or if he has just trying to cash in on the craze for the Harlem scene, but when the New York Public Library adopted his book as their official dictionary of Harlem slang, it was suddenly very legit. There is no question that he is taking it seriously by the 1944 edition. It is still very playful and super fun to read, but you can tell he is working hard to document a form of English he loved and helped to propagate. So hit that jive, Jack, and truck on in. It'll blow your wig!

Ask for Rare ML102 .J3P76 1939.