A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary, and Expositor of the English Language; in which, not only the meaning of every word is clearly explained, and the sound of every syllable distinctly shown, but, where words are subject to different pronunciations, the authorities of our best pronouncing dictionaries are fully exhibited, the reasons for each are at large displayed, and the preferable pronunciation is pointed out. the whole interspersed with observations, etymological, critical, and grammatical. 5th edn. 4to.

Contemp. full calf, blind ruled & decorative borders, raised bands, compartment elaborately blocked in blind, Armorial emblem in gilt at head of spine; expert repair to hinges with (almost imperceptibly replaced) morocco label. A handsome copy. See Alston 336, vol. V. Copac records only three copies of the 1810 edition; no further copies on OCLC. John Walker, 1732-1807, enjoyed an eclectic career as an actor, philologist, and lexicographer. Married to the comic actress Miss Myners, Walker earned some success on the stage working under Garrick in Drury Lane and later at the Covent Garden Theatre. On leaving the stage, he took up teaching and began lecturing on elocution, a role that drew the patronage and friendship of Samuel Johnson and Edmund Burke. The ODNB notes that 'he was generally held in the highest esteem in consequence of his philological attainments. but according to Madame d'Arblay, "though modest in science, he was vulgar in conversation".' First published in 1791, Walker's Critical Pronouncing Dictionary was the standard work on English Orthoepy for almost a century. It was published in over 100 editions up until 1904 not withstanding the derivative publications it spawned. (O'Neill, p.364.) This edition published with the comprehensive rules of pronunciation (for Irish, Scottish and foreign readers as well as English), together with 'A key to the classical pronunciation of Greek, Latin, and scripture proper names.'. …