Browse Items (19 total)
Sort by:
“A Gross Literary Fraud Exposed; Relating to the Publication of Worcester’s Dictionary in London,” as Webster’s Dictionary
The 1850s were a crucial decade in the dictionary wars. An unscrupulous British publisher inflamed the situation: Henry G. Bohn acquired the British rights to Worcester’s 1846 Universal and Critical Dictionary, where the preface explained that…
A Comprehensive Pronouncing and Explanatory Dictionary of the English Language.
Three years—1828 to 1830—saw the most prolific output ever by a lexicographer: Joseph E. Worcester. First came his abridgment of Johnson’s Dictionary. Converse then approached him to abridge Webster’s masterwork. Worcester declined, but when Converse…
A Critic Criticized: And Worcester Vindicated
The 1850s were a crucial decade in the dictionary wars. An unscrupulous British publisher inflamed the situation: Henry G. Bohn acquired the British rights to Worcester’s 1846 Universal and Critical Dictionary, where the preface explained that…
A Critical Review of the Orthography of Dr. Webster’s Series of Books for Systematick Instruction in the English Language
The feisty Lyman Cobb became fixated on Webster’s many flip-flops in spelling—caused in part by Worcester’s influence in the 1829 abridgment, which contradicted Webster. Cobb’s marginal strictures in his copy of the 1828 Webster resulted in this…
A Dictionary of the English Language
The preface to Worcester’s big dictionary, 30 years in the making, magnanimously praised both Noah Webster and Chauncey Goodrich. Perhaps it was doomed from the beginning: Worcester had been fending off accusations of literary wrongdoing for years.…
An American Dictionary of the English Language
This dictionary, called “Webster-Mahn,” was in its day the best ever produced. (Worcester’s book held that title for only four years!) The definitions were rigorous, and the fanciful etymologies were at last retrenched. Noah Porter engaged Professor…
An American Dictionary of the English Language . . . By Noah Webster, LL.D
Three years—1828 to 1830—saw the most prolific output ever by a lexicographer: Joseph E. Worcester. First came his abridgment of Johnson’s Dictionary. Converse then approached him to abridge Webster’s masterwork. Worcester declined, but when Converse…
An American Dictionary of the English Language; first edition in octavo. 2 vols
Webster horrified his family by mortgaging his house to self-publish this book. All his ventures had proved disastrous, and this one was no different. Webster printed 3,000 copies; when he died, 1,420 lay in unbound sheets. Webster tried promotions.…
Cobb’s Abridgment of J. Walker’s Critical Pronouncing Dictionary, and Expositor of the English Language
The feisty Lyman Cobb became fixated on Webster’s many flip-flops in spelling—caused in part by Worcester’s influence in the 1829 abridgment, which contradicted Webster. Cobb’s marginal strictures in his copy of the 1828 Webster resulted in this…
Copyright certificate for Worcester’s abridgment of Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language.
This is Webster’s own copy of an infuriating document: a copyright jointly held with his nemesis, Worcester. The handwriting is Chauncey Goodrich’s. Not that he was a schemer, but Goodrich soon procured from Worcester a written disclaimer of any…