A General Dictionary of the English Language. One main object of which, is, to establish a plain and permanent standard of pronunciation to which is prefixed a rhetorical grammar. In two volumes.

SHERIDAN, Thomas.

Published by Printed for J. Dodsley; C. Dilly; & J. Wilkie. 1780, 1780

About this Item

Two volumes in one. 4to. Without the half titles, titlepage to volume II, and final advertisement leaf. A very nice clean copy. Late eighteenth-century full tree calf, single gilt ruled border, spine ruled in gilt, red morocco label; sl. wear to upper & lower leading hinge, a little rubbed. Armorial bookplate of Thomas Sneyd Kynnersley. A handsome copy. Alston V 312; ESTC T85061. FIRST EDITION. A nice copy bound near contemporaneously into one volume. Thomas Sheridan, 1719-1788, was the Godson of Jonathan Swift, a close family friend, and the father of the dramatist and statesman Richard Brinsley Sheridan. A respected actor and theatre manager, Sheridan, in later life, turned to teaching and lecturing on elocution where he argued that mastering the art of oratory and correct pronunciation, was the best form of education. He published A Dissertation on the Difficulties Which Occur in Learning the English Tongue in 1762 followed by his General Dictionary in 1780. Although it was printed in Philadelphia in 1783 and Dublin in 1784, the second London edition did not appear until 1789 after which it was regularly reprinted as a Complete Dictionary until the end of the eighteenth century. Sheridan was at one time on close terms with Samuel Johnson although the two later fell out acrimoniously. Sheridan wrote of Johnson that he had 'gigantic fame in these days of little men' while Johnson commented on Sheridan that 'such an excess of stupidity is not in nature'.

Seller Inventory # 83130

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A General Dictionary of the English Language. One main object of which, is, to establish a plain and permanent standard of pronunciation to which is prefixed a rhetorical grammar. In two volumes.
• Publisher: Printed for J. Dodsley; C. Dilly; & J. Wilkie. 1780
• Publication Date: 1780
• Binding: Hardcover
• Seller catalogs:
  • aDICTIONARIES, WORD BOOKS &c.