This volume is concerned with assessing fictional and non-fictional written texts as linguistic evidence for earlier forms of varieties of English. These range from Scotland to New Zealand, from Canada to South Africa, covering all the major forms of the English language around the world. Central to the volume is the question of how genuine written representations are. Here the emphasis is on the techniques and methodology which can be employed when analysing documents. The vernacular styles found in written documents and the use of these as a window on earlier spoken modes of different varieties represent a focal concern of the book. Studies of language in literature, which were offered in the past, have been revisited and their findings reassessed in the light of recent advances in variationist linguistics.

Robert A. Cote, Sharjah Women's College, United Arab Emirates, on Linguist List 22.2544. 2011:
Hickey's collection of articles offers many rare samples of authentic writing based on numerous varieties of spoken English from various historical sources, resulting in informative and appealing reading on an area of historic English speech-based writing that is well-worth exploring by today's linguists.