Friends of the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae
A Newly Urgent Petition
The Thesaurus linguae Latinae is the most authoritative dictionary of ancient Latin in the world. It is the only lexicon to be based upon every single surviving Latin text from the earliest times down to AD 600. It is overseen and published by the International Thesaurus Committee, which comprises delegates from 38 learned societies representing every continent except Antarctica.
Three issues are published every two years. The project is 95% funded by a grant from the German government, supplemented by contributions from the member societies according to their means. Some countries, including the USA, also send an annual Fellow to be trained in lexicography and compose articles for the dictionary. Short-term summer fellows, normally graduate students, receive highly concentrated training over a period of 8–10 weeks, during which they are able to compose two or three short articles for the project.
About us
Since 1984, the Society for Classical Studies (SCS, formerly the American Philological Association) has sent an annual postdoctoral Fellow to join the team of approximately 13 scholars at the Thesaurus linguae Latinae institute in Munich. The Fellow receives detailed training in lexicography and contributes articles to the lexicon. Each contributor works intensively with an editor to produce articles of the highest quality. The learning curve is very steep, and the Fellow becomes familiar with the entire range of Latin sources covering eight centuries from the earliest surviving texts to approximately AD 600. Fellows report that the experience has transformed their subsequent research and teaching, as you can see by pressing the Testimonials button under "US Fellowship" on this site.
For four decades since the inauguration of the Fellowship, the Fellow’s stipend (now $60K p.a.) has been funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), supplemented by donations from members of the SCS. The Fellowship is advertised in the fall, a national selection committee is appointed, interviews are conducted on Zoom in January or February, a candidate and alternates are selected, and an offer is made straight away. Such is the quality of the Fellows, that at least two former SCS Fellows have subsequently been offered long-term contracts at the TLL and accepted them.
The NEH grant was abruptly terminated in April 2025. The SCS has generously pledged to support the 2025–26 Fellow for the entirety of their Fellowship. The Friends of the Thesaurus linguae Latinae are committed to raising $62K (stipend plus $2K honoraria distributed among the members of the selection committee) in time to advertise the Fellowship for 2026–27 in fall 2025. The Biggs Family Foundation, with its ongoing commitment to the preservation and the promotion of the Classics, is proud to support the Thesaurus linguae Latinae. To that end, the family is committed to providing up to $31,000 in matching funds, contributing a dollar for every three dollars donated to the Friends, with the goal of supporting the Fellowships for 2026–27 and 2027–28. All donations will be formally acknowledged.
You may make your gift at the DONATE button on this page or make out a check to Friends of the TLL and send it to Kathleen Coleman, 320-C Harvard St., Cambridge, MA 02139-2002. For gifts of stock please contact Kathleen Coleman at kcoleman@fas.harvard.edu for information about the process of transfer.
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