“The answer lies in the Preface, where he explains, ‘Obsolete words are admitted, when they are found in authors not obsolete, or when they have any force or beauty that may deserve revival.’ag Significantly, the epigraph to the finished Dictionary is a passage on this very theme from the second of Horace’s Epistles; it celebrates the efforts of the prudent critic who weeds out undignified language and rehabilitates forgotten but elegant words.”
