This book is the first critical edition of White Kennett's Etymologicon Anglicanum (British Library, MS Lansdowne 1033), a long forgotten etymological compilation of the late 1690s with a substantial amount of regional dialect material. The work drew the attention of dialect lexicographers of the nineteenth century, such as Joseph Wright, and serves as documentary evidence for the OED.

This new scholarly edition of Kennett's glossary is divided into two parts. The first includes a detailed introduction that situates Kennett in the context of his time and of historical antiquarian scholarship. Javier Ruano-García also describes the manuscript and Kennett's method, paying close attention to the regional dialect element and its lasting lexicographical impact. Part II contains the annotated edition of the text with a substantial commentary on its dialect material. The edition also offers a critical apparatus that records Kennett's many alterations to the glossary so that readers are able to see him at work and make sense of the process of compilation.