Eighteenth Century Collections Online Sample from 1715

The results from the Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) Database for 1715 returned a great variety in the forms of cheap used. However, in this century, the use of the noun form cheap was no longer present. There were increased occurrences of the verb use in comparison to the 17th century. The meanings associated, to the verbs, remained consistent to the samples found in EBBO. The adjective forms also remained relatively consistent in meaning with the variety found in the previous century, but there was an increase in the occurrences of the adjective use that indicated a more negative representation of the noun being referred to as cheap. In some instances, the negative adjective use brought the noun being described into further disdain than seen in previous centuries by making a determination of lower value without the basis of the said noun's familiarity and commonality. The other adjective uses were similar to that of past centuries in being declarations of affordability. I attempted to represent the increase use of the adjective variety by choosing a majority of adjectives for my sample. I chose samples of the uses seen in previous centuries as well as several examples of the use with an increasingly negative connotation. I also wanted to represent the continued use of the verb form and the standardization of the verb representation as cheapen and did so by adding multiple samples of such.

Author Title Pub. Place Passage Image/Page Number Definition
A.S. The gentleman's compleat jockey London, England "This Plaister for the cheapness and meanness, will hardly gain Credit with those that are curious, but I dare assure you, that there is not a more excellent or sovereign Plaister belonging to a Horse, ..." i.160 p.151 That may be bought at small cost; bearing a relatively low price; inexpensive. Opposed to dear. (adjective)
Anon. An address to the people of England London, England "And yet do they manage their Delusions with such dexterous Skill and Application, that the Deluded People are pleased with their Inchantments, and have no Inclination to be undeceived; but are ready to rush into the Battle with Rebels and Murders; to turn our pleasant Land into a Field of Blood, and to lay their Country Waste with Fire, and Sword, and Plunder, rather than be made sensible that they may be Safe and Happy at a cheaper rate." i.2 p.3 That may be bought at small cost; bearing a relatively low price; inexpensive. Opposed to dear. (adjective)
Anon. An answer to a scurrilous pamphlet London, England "Had the partial Compiler condescended to have read the many learned Answers, which in the space of two or three Years last past, have been publish'd, to every particular Objection in this boasted Collection; surely he would never have had the Assurance to repeat them with so much confidence, without taking the least Notice of those Answers, especially since he might have been furnished with them at a cheap rate, and have had one as well as the other for the Trouble of Transcribing: I can guess at no other reason he could have for concealing them..." i.4 p.5 That may be bought at small cost; bearing a relatively low price; inexpensive. Opposed to dear. (adjective)
Allestree, Richard The whole duty of man London, England "Thirdly, This is a Sin to which there is no temptation, there is nothing either of pleasure or profit got by it; most other Sins offer us somewhat either of the one or the other, but this is utterly empty of both. So that in this Sin the Devil does not play the Merchant for our Souls, as in others he does; he doth not so much as cheapen them, but we give them freely into his hands, without any thing in exchange." i.129 p.106 To chaffer, haggle about terms with a person, or about a bargain (verb)
Aulnoy, Marie-Catherine The diverting works of the Countess d'Anois London, England "The next day he came to see me, and having made me a thousand Excuses, desir'd me to appear again at Court. And as for the Marquis of Fleuri, he requested me in respect of him, not to make it amiss, that he continu'd in his Confinement for some few days, for returning without his Order. But the Marquis of Fleuri, who did not believe he should come off at so cheap a rate, was not to be found when the sought for him, neither did any body know what was become of him." i.107 p.98 To hold of small account, think little of, despise. (adjective)
Bentley, Richard A sermon upon popery Cambridge, England "Drink Ye All of this; not for the dearness or scarcity of Wine, which is cheap and common in those Climates; not for the then pretended Reason, that the Mustaches or Whiskers in the mode of that Age us'd to dip into the Holy Cup" i.21 p.22 That may be bought at small cost; bearing a relatively low price; inexpensive. Opposed to dear. (adjective)
Burgess, Daniel A letter to the Bishop of Salisbury London, England "Is it likely that any Nation in the four Quarters of the World would entertain such a Colony? No, we have suffer'd 'em to nest in Great Britain, and must ev'n keep them for our Punishment. The Plagues of Egypt would be a cheap way of getting rid of them, to change their Ministers for a Murrain, and their Priests for Locusts; but as the Case stands, there's no helping it." i.24 p.23 Costing little labor, trouble, effort, etc.; easily obtained. (adjective)
Burgess, Daniel The rise and growth of fanaticism London, England "But can any one tell what might be the Design of the Presbyterians in North-Britain, soon after the late Revolution, to re-print Buchanan's and Milton's condemn'd Treatises, to cheapen the Impression, recommend the reading of them from their Chairs and Pulpits, and to put them into the Hands of School-Boys, and Students in their Colleges?" i.18 p.19 To make cheap, lower the price of. (verb)
Davenant, Charles An account of the trade London, England "if you prohibit French Wines, and yet will have them, it must come from a third Hand; to that third Hand you are forc'd to sell your native Product at a cheap Rate, and to pay them dear for what they import foreign..." i.49 p.49 That may be bought at small cost; bearing a relatively low price; inexpensive. Opposed to dear. (adjective)
Symson, William A new voyage to the East Indies London, England "Instead of Coin, they use small Pieces of Mat made of Grafs, very thin, and about 16 Inches Square; for one of which are small Cakes of Bread, when Corn is dear, and five when it is cheap. They use those Pieces of Mat to adorn their Bodies, and cover their privy Parts." i.16 p.8 That may be bought at small cost; bearing a relatively low price; inexpensive. Opposed to dear. (adjective)