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Abstract

This paper gives a very brief survey of the history of Danish lexicography in the 15th and 16th centuries, focusing on thematic school dictionaries, many of which are only known through book catalogues and the like. The books themselves have been lost, torn by generations of school children. The paper focuses on a Danish version of the influential Nomenclator omnium rerum propria nomina variis lingvis explicata indicans by the Dutch scholar Hadrianus Junius. The Danish version (Epitome) was compiled by Hans Poulsen Resen – whose linguistic and pedagogical interests are known from other sources. Unlike Junius’s learned work, Epitome was intended for school children, and the number and quality of information in the original is therefore dramatically reduced to Latin and Danish equivalents. Also, the possible relationship between Epitome and some later school dictionaries is examined.