[3] This is evident from the interest the Germans have manifested, e.g. the younger Gesenius, in his able essay, De Lingua Chauceri Commentationem Grammaticam; and Edward Fiedler's Translation of the Canterbury Tales.
S. W. SINGER.
ENGLISH SURNAMES.
(Vol. v., p. 290.)
I have, as most of the readers of "N. & Q." are aware, for a considerable time past turned my attention to the subject of English Surnames, and the sale of three editions of my work under that title shows that such a book was a desideratum. Chapters on the origin of surnames exist in Camden's Remaines, Verstegan's Restitution, and elsewhere, and there are detached notices in the Gentleman's Magazine and other periodicals; but my work is the first, and as yet the only independent treatise on the subject. Any one who will be at the trouble to compare my first and third editions will at once see how this inquiry has grown under my hands; but although I have collected and classified 6000 names, much still remains to be accomplished. Under this conviction, I am now engaged in the compilation of a Dictionary of English Family Names, which I hope to complete within the present year. My plan will include:
I. The name.
II. The class to which it belongs. The classes will be about twenty in number.
III. The etymology of each name when necessary.
IV. Definitions and remarks.
V. Illustrative quotations from old English authors.
VI. The century in which the name first occurs.