John Stephen Farmer (7 March 1854 – 18 January 1916) also known as J. S. Farmer was a British lexicographer, spiritualist and writer. He was most well known for his seven volume dictionary of slang.
John Stephen Farmer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 7 March 1854 |
| Died | 18 January 1916 (aged 61) |
| Occupation(s) | Lexicographer, spiritualist |
Career
editFarmer was born in Bedford. His lifetime work was Slang and its Analogues published in seven volumes (1890–1904) with William Ernest Henley.[1][2]
Farmer took interest in psychical research and spiritualism. He was the first editor for the spiritualist journal Light.[3] From 1878, he also edited the Psychological Review, a spiritualist periodical.[4] Farmer was a member of the London Spiritualist Alliance.[5]
Farmer defended the medium William Eglinton from accusations of fraud and in 1886 wrote a biography about Eglinton.[6]
Publications
edit- Spiritualism as a New Basis of Belief (1880)
- A New Basis of Belief in Immortality (1882)
- How to Investigate Spiritualism (1883)
- Twixt Two Worlds: A Narrative of the Life and Work of William Eglinton (1886)
- Americanisms, Old and New. A Dictionary of Words, Phrases, and Colloquialisms peculiar to the United States, British America, the West Indies, &c., &c., Their Derivation, Meaning, and Application, together with numerous Anecdotal, Historical, Explanatory, and Folk-lore Notes (1889)
- Slang and its Analogues Past and Present: A Dictionary, Historical and Comparative, of the Heterodox Speech of All Classes of Society for more than Three Hundred Years With Synonyms in English, French, German, Italian, Etc (Seven volumes, 1890–1904) [with William Ernest Henley]
References
edit- ^ Coleman, Julie. (2008). A History of Cant and Slang Dictionaries: Volume III: 1859–1936. Oxford University Press. pp. 53-54. ISBN 978-0199549375
- ^ Hughes, Geoffrey. (2006). An Encyclopedia of Swearing: The Social History of Oaths, Profanity, Foul Language, and Ethnic Slurs in the English-speaking World. Routledge. pp. 158-159. ISBN 978-0765612311
- ^ Oppenheim, Janet. (1988). The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850–1914. Cambridge University Press. p. 46. ISBN 978-0521347679
- ^ Lavoie, Jeffrey D. (2014). Search for Meaning in Victorian Religion: The Spiritual Journey and Esoteric Teachings of Charles Carleton Massey. Lehigh University Press. p. 18. ISBN 978-1611461848
- ^ Oppenheim, Janet. (1988). The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850–1914. Cambridge University Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-0521347679
- ^ Christine Ferguson. (2012). Determined Spirits: Eugenics, Heredity and Racial Regeneration in Anglo-American Spiritualist Writing, 1848–1930. Edinburgh University Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0748639656
Further reading
edit- Eric Dingwall. (1981). Light and the Farmer Mystery. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 51: 22-25.