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Dark blue cloth, gilt lettering to spines. With original cream dustwrappers printed in red. Dustwrapper spines sunned. Mild edgewear to dustwrappers for vols II-IV, with small loss to bottom outer corner of vol. III dustwrapper (c. 5 x 3 x 3cm) and near base of vol. IV dustwrapper spine (c. 1cm). Vol. I dustwrapper has large loss to bottom outer corner, including flap (c. 14 x 9.5 x 25cm), abrasions to rear, and small losses to top rear. Vol. III dustwrapper price-clipped. Folios (23 x 29cm). Minor foxing to fore- and top edges. Dictionary text printed in double columns. Vol. I: I. A - Corn patch / vol. II: Corn pit - Honk / vol. III: Honk - Record / vol. IV. Recorder - Zu-zu; Bibliography. A Dictionary of American English on Historical Principles (DAE) was first published in book form from 1938 to 1944 and includes 'not only words and phrases which are clearly or apparently of American origin, or have greater currency here than elsewhere, but also every word denoting something which has a real connection with the development of the country and the history of its people' (Vol. I, preface). It was developed by Sir William Craigie (1867-1957), the third editor of the OED, 'the ablest and most productive lexicographer of his time' (ODNB), who proposed a dictionary of specifically American English to his hosts when teaching a summer course at the University of Chicago in 1924: he was promptly awarded a professorship, moved from Oxford to Chicago, and led the team compiling the dictionary from 1925 to 1936. Craigie was also responsible for A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue, and his 'vision for a network of major historical dictionaries, addressing specific periods of time and regional usage, paved the way for many other important projects' (Ogilvie, ed., Dictionaries of English and Related Varieties. In The Cambridge Companion to English Dictionaries, 2020). This 1960 edition (also published in Chicago in 1959 and 1960) is an exact reprint of the 1938-44 edition, whose 'great merits', as a contemporary review of the reprint has it, 'are by now sufficiently known', offering 'varied reading of rare character and savour' (D. N., Short Notices, The Review of English Studies, XIII.50, 1962, pp. 221-222); as the same reviewer noted, although the later Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles (DA) had covered much of the same ground, DAE's broader scope ensures it remains 'both convenient and illuminating'. A landmark of American lexicography. Scarce. Robust packaging. Tracking is always added to USA orders. It can be added to other overseas orders on request. Size: xiv, 628 + x, 629-1268 + x, 1269-1908 + x, 1909-2552pp.
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