Karl von Richthofen’s Altfriesisches Wörterbuch (1840): A Milestone in Germanic Lexicography

Karl von Richthofen’s voluminous Altfriesisches Wörterbuch was published in 1840, when the author was only 29 years old. It marked a major achievement in the field of Old Frisian studies and well beyond that discipline. This article introduces the author, his study at the universities of Berlin and Göttingen and how the dictionary evolved from what was originally intended to be a subject index to accompany his critical and comparative edition of all the then known legal texts pertaining to medieval Frisia, Friesische Rechtsquellen (1840). Much information about the genesis of the dictionary can be extracted from the intense discussion which Richthofen in numerous entries entertains with contemporary scholars. The article furthermore presents an analysis of the dictionary’s macro- and micro-structure and finally discusses how this highly innovative dictionary was received upon publication.