The Language of Thieves and Vagabonds

The volume analyses the main dictionaries and glossaries of the particular jargon spoken by thieves and vagabonds that appeared in the 17th and 18th centuries. The main works on canting published in those centuries are analysed in chapters 3 to 10: the specific features of each publication are identified, as well as the method adopted by its author and the most likely sources of its entries, in order to determine the degree of novelty and relevance that his contribution has brought to this field. The first two chapters provide a necessary introduction to the investigation carried out in the subsequent sections. The final chapter deals with the evolution in the meaning of the term 'cant' itself in the period taken into consideration.