This curious book is a copy of John Ray's A Collection of English words, not generally used..., a list of dialect words used in various counties of England, Scotland and Wales. Ray is principally known to be a naturalist, he was the first person to give a biological definition to the term 'species' but it is apparent he had many interests, the study of language being one of them. Appended to this volume (apparently intended), is a catalogue of British birds, a catalogue of fish and even some insights into the smelting processes of various metals across England and Wales.
It is a strange collection, but one which was obviously popular, the Royal Library also holds a copy of the second edition, printed in 1691 (RCIN 1055451) and the fourth edition, printed in 1768 (RCIN 1071557) which also contains Ray's list of English and foreign proverbs, first published in 1670.