John Worth - Spanish Florida

Colonial-Era Spanish Language Resources

The resource list below provides links to digital images of original 18th and early 19th-century dictionaries and Spanish grammar texts, focusing on those that will assist English-speakers in reading and understanding historical documents from the Spanish colonial era, including those that were written in ecclesiastical Latin. In addition, these texts provide an opportunity for even native Spanish-speakers to explore the nuances of linguistic change that have occurred during the past three centuries, most notably in the area of vocabulary, including many words no longer in use. Apart from the searchable index of Spanish-Spanish dictionaries (below), all other texts are freely available on Google Books, with a few from the Biblioteca Digital Hispánica.

Spanish Dictionaries / Spanish Grammar / Spanish Handwriting / Latin Dictionaries / Latin Grammar

Spanish-Spanish Dictionaries

1611 - Tesoro de la Lengua Castellana, o Española, by Sebastián de Cobarruvias Orozco (selection of Spanish words with meanings and brief discussions of their origins and usage; equivalent to a limited etymological dictionary)

1673-1674 - Primera Parte / Segunda Parte del Tesoro de la Lengua Castellana, o Española, by Sebastián de Covarrubias Orozco

1674 - Primera Parte del Tesoro de la Lengua Castellana, o Española, by Sebastián de Covarrubias y Orozco

1726-present - All comprehensive historical Spanish dictionaries are conveniently searchable with digital images of the original pages at the Nuevo Tesoro Lexografico de la Lengua Espanola (click search button at top left, then enter search term in box entitled "Lema")

Spanish-English Dictionaries

1725 - A Vocabulary, in Six Languages; viz. English, Latin, Italian, French, Spanish, and Portugues, after a New Method to Shew the Dependance of the four last upon the Latin, and their mutual Analogy to each other, by R. John Andree (a limited but multi-lingual comparative glossary)

1726 - A New Dictionary, Spanish and English, and English and Spanish, by John Stephens

1740 - A New Dictionary, Spanish and English and English and Spanish, by Peter Pineda

1778 - A Dictionary: Spanish and English and English and Spanish, by Joseph Baretti (Spanish-English volume only)

1786 - Diccionario Español e Ingles, by Giuseppe Marco Antonio Baretti (Volume 1, Spanish-English only)

1797-1798 - Diccionario Nuevo de las dos Lenguas Española é Inglesa, by Thomas Connelly and Thomas Higgins
                     (Part 1, Vol. 1, English-English, 1798)
                    Diccionario Nuevo de las dos Lenguas Española é Inglesa, (Part 1, Vol. 2, Spanish-Spanish, 1798)
                     Diccionario Nuevo de las dos Lenguas Española é Inglesa, (Part 2, Vol. 1, Spanish-English, 1797)
                     Diccionario Nuevo de las dos Lenguas Española é Inglesa, (Part 2, Vol. 2, English-Spanish, 1797)

1800 - A Dictionary: Spanish and English, and English and Spanish, by Joseph Baretti (two parts in single-volume)

1802 - A New Dictionary of the Spanish and English Languages, by Henry Neuman (Part 1, Spanish-English)
            A New Dictionary of the Spanish and English Languages, by Henry Neuman (Part 2, English-Spanish)

1803 - Nuevo Diccionario Portatil, Español é Ingles, by C.M. Gattel (Part 1, Spanish-English)
            The New Pocket Dictionary of the English and Spanish Languages, by C.M. Gattel (Part 2, English-Spanish)

1809 - A Dictionary: Spanish and English, and English and Spanish, by Joseph Baretti (Vol. 1, Spanish-English)
            A Dictionary: Spanish and English, and English and Spanish, by Joseph Baretti (Vol. 2, English-Spanish)

1811 - The First Dictionary of Two Languages under a Single Alphabet / Primer Diccionario de Dos Lenguas
            Bajo de Un Solo Alfabeto, Ingles y Español, by Felipe Fernández (single volume, single alphabet)

1827 - Diccionario Portátil Español-Ingles, Compuesto Sobre las Ultimas Ediciones de Neuman e Baretti
            (two parts in single volume)

1831-1837
     Neuman and Baretti's Dictionary of the English and Spanish Languages, revised by Mateo Seoane
     (Vol. 1, Spanish-English, 1837)
     Diccionario de las Lenguas Española é Inglesa de Neuman y Baretti, revised by Mateo Seoane
     (Vol. 2, English-Spanish, 1831)

1832-1836 -
Neuman and Baretti's Dictionary of the English and Spanish Languages (Vol. 1, Spanish-English, 1832)
Neuman and Baretti's Dictionary of the English and Spanish Languages (Vol. 2, English-Spanish, 1836)

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Spanish Grammar / Orthography (in Spanish)

1558 - Gramática Castellana: Arte breve y compendiosa para saber hablar y escrevir en la lengua Castellana congrua y deçentemente, by Christóbal de Villalón

1559 - Gramática de la Lengua Vulgar de España, by Bartholomé Gravio

1609 - Ortografía Castellana, by Mateo Alemán

1614 - Epitome de la Ortografia Latina y Castellana, by Bartolomé Ximénez Patón

1730 - Ortografía Española, by Antonio Bordazar de Artazú

1735 - Reglas de Ortografía en la Lengua Castellana, by Antonio de Lebrija

1744 - Gramática Castellana, by Antonio de Lebrija

1751 - Epitome de la Orthographia Castellana, by Joseph Blasi

1770 - Ortografía de la Lengua Castellana, by the Real Academia Española

1781 - Gramática de Lengua Castellana, by the Real Academia Española

1796 - Grámatica de la Lengua Castellana Dirigida á las Escuelas, by Joseph Pablo Ballot

1799 - Elementos de Gramática Castellana, Ortografía, Calografía, y Urbanidad, para uso de los Discípulos de las Escuelas Pías, by Santiago Delgado de Jesús y María

1817 - Compendio de la Gramática de la Real Academia Española, by Juan Cau y Aner

1823 - Gramática de la Lengua Castellana, y Reducida a Diálogo, by José Garriga

1829 - Lecciones de Gramática Castellana, by J. Herrera A. Alvear

1837 - Gramática Elemental de la Lengua Española, by Pascual Polo

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Spanish Grammar / Orthography (in English)

1725 - A New Spanish Grammar, by John Stephens

1751 - A Short and Compendious Method for the Learning to Speak, Read, and Write, the English and Spanish Languagester , by Peter Pineda

1777 - A New Spanish Grammar; or, the Elements of the Spanish Language, by Joseph Giral del Pino

1792 - A New Spanish Grammar, or The Elements of the Spanish Language, by Raymundo del Puego

1810 - A new, easy, and complete grammar of the Spanish language, Commercial and Military, by John Emmanuel Mordente

1822 - A Grammar of the Spanish Language, by Auguste-Louis Josse, revised by Francis Sales

1826 - A New Spanish Grammar, by Mariano Cubi y Soler

1833 - A Grammar of the Spanish Language, by José de Alcalá

1841 - A New and Improved Spanish Grammar, by Luís Josef Antonio McHenry

1844 - A Complete Theoretical and Practical Grammar of the Spanish Language, by Emanuel del Mar

1848 - A First Book in Spanish; or, A Practical Introduction to the Study of the Spanish Language, by Joseph, by Joseph Salkeld

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Spanish Handwriting (in Spanish)

1589 - Libro y Tratado para Enseñar Leer y Escrivir, by Juan de la Cuesta

1608 - Arte de Escrevir, by Francisco Lucas

1650 - Primera Parte del Arte de Escrivir Todas Formas de Letras, by Joseph de Casanova

1719 - Arte Nuevo de Escribir por Preceptos Geométricos y Reglas Mathemáticas, by Juan Claudio Aznar de Polanco

1766 - Tratado del Origen, y Arte de Escribir Bien, by Luis de Olod

1776 - Arte Nueva de Escribir, Inventada por el Insigne Maestro Pedro Díaz Morante, by Francisco Xavier de Santiago Palomares

1789 - Arte de Escribir, by Estevan Ximénez

1791 - Compendio del Arte de Escribir por Reglas y sin Muestras, by Joseph de Anduaga y Garimberti

1795 - Arte de Escribir por Reglas y sin Muestras, Establecido de Orden Superior en los Reales Sitios de San Ildefonso yValsian, by Joseph de Anduaga y Garimberti

1798 - Arte de Escribir por Reglas y con Muestras segun la Doctrina de los Mejores Autores Antiguos y Modernos, Estrangeros y Nacionales, by Torquato Torio de la Riva y Herrero

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Latin-Spanish Dictionaries

1499 - Vocabularium Ecclesiasticum, by Rodrigo Fernández de Santaella (Latin-Spanish only)

1513 - Vocabularius, by Elio Antonio Nebrija (Latin-Spanish and Spanish-Latin)

1550 - Dictionarium Latinohispanicum, et Vice Versa Hispanicolatinum, by Elio Antonio Nebrija (Latin-Spanish and Spanish-Latin)

1556 - Vocabularium Ecclesiasticum, by Rodrigo Fernández de Santaella (Latin-Spanish only)

1556 - Diccionarium Ecclesiasticum, by Rodrigo Fernández de Santaella (Latin-Spanish only)

1572 - Lexicon Ecclesiasticum Latino Hispanicum, by Diego Ximénez Arias (Latin-Spanish only)

1613 - Lexicon Ecclesiasticum Latino Hispanicum, by Diego Ximénez Arias (Latin-Spanish only)

1628 - Thesaurus Verborum, ac Phrasium, ad Orationem ex Hispana Latinam Efficiendam, & Locupletandam, by Bartholomé Bravo (Spanish-Latin only; includes section on Latin Orthography at end)

1644 - Lexicon Ecclesiasticum Latino Hispanicum, by Diego Ximénez Arias (Latin-Spanish only)

1671 - Compendium Latino-Hispanum Utriusque Lingua Veluti Lumen, by Pedro de Salas (Latin-Spanish Only)

1679 - Thesaurus Hispano-Latinus Utriusque Linguae, Verbis et Phrasibus Abundans, by Balthazar Henriquez (Spanish-Latin only)

1714 - Thesaurus Hispano-Latinus, Utriusque Linguae Dives Opum, et Phrasibus Abundans, by Bartolomé Bravo (Spanish-Latin only)

1720 - Lexicon Ecclesiasticum Latino-Hispanicum, by Diego Ximénez Arias (Latin-Spanish only)

1727 - Thesaurus Hispano-Latinus Utriusque Linguae Verbis, et Phrasibus Abundans, by Valeriano Requejo (Spanish-Latin only)

1744 - Vocabularium Seu Lexicon Ecclesiasticum Latino-Hispanicum, by Rodrigo Fernández de Santaella (Latin-Spanish only)

1757 - Thesaurus Hispano-Latinus, Utriusque Linguae Verbis et Phrasibus Abundans, by Bartolomé Bravo (Spanish-Latin only)

1770 - Vocabularium Seu Lexicon Ecclesiasticum Latino-Hispanicum, by Rodrigo Fernández de Santaella (Latin-Spanish only)

1785 - Compendium Latino-Hispanum Utriusque Lingua Veluti Lumen, by Pedro de Salas (Latin-Spanish Only)

1789 - Vocabularium Seu Lexicon Ecclesiasticum Latino-Hispanicum, by Rodrigo Fernández de Santaella (Latin-Spanish only)

1798 - Lexicon Ecclesiasticum Latino-Hispanicum, by Diego Ximénez Arias (Latin-Spanish only)

1822 - Diccionario Universal Español-Latino, by Manuel de Valbuena (Spanish-Latin only)

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Latin Grammar / Orthography (in Spanish)

1581 - Nueua y sutil invencion, en seys instrumentos, intitulado juego y exercicio de letras de las serenissimas infantas doña Ysabel y doña Catalina de Austria, by Pedro de Guevara

1599 - Libro muy vtil y prouechoso para aprender la latinidad en el cual se pone en practica el modo de construir los autores: con un vocabulario de las partes exteriores y interiores del hombre,, by Miguel Navarro (includes extremely detailed Latin-Spanish dictionary relative to the human body and related topics)

1622 - Declaración de las Reglas que Pertenecen a la Sintaxis, para el uso de los Nombres, y construccion de los Verbos, by Juan de Mendoça y Luna

1646 - Advertencias para mayor noticia de la gramatica, y reduzir al vso y exercicio los preceptos della, by Pedro de Carrera

1672 - Gramatica Muda de Gramatica latina en las aulas de Ortografia y Prosodia, by Manuel Sánchez de Arbustante

1675 - Explicación Facil, Breve, y Elegante de las Quatro Partes de la Gramática, by Santiago de Villafañe de la Payana y Yebra

1600-1700? - Gramática Latina (anonymous manuscript text)

1730 - Ortographía Latina,, by Antonius Bordazar de Artazu

1739 - Nuevo Methodo, de la Construcción, de los Authores Latinos de Prosa, i Verso, de todas las Edades de la Lengua Latina, by Juan Francisco Pastor Abalos y Mendoza

1743 - Suma de Tiempos, y Otros Rudimentos de la Gramática, cono se enseña en las Escuelas de la Compañia de Jesus, con un Abecedario de los Verbos, , by Ignacio de los Valles and Jayme Rufas

1752 - Breve Modo de Aprender Grammática, en Diálogo, by Pedro Antonio Martínez de Cabredo

1769 - Quatro Libros de la Lengua Latina, o Arte de Gramatica, by Pedro Simón Abril

1787 - Gramática Laconica, o Epitome de la Lengua Latina, by Ignacio del Campo

1817 - Esplicacion de Oraciones, Preceptos, y Reglas Pertenecientes a la Gramática Latina, by Juan Francisco de Corcuera

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