Language Nature Development Origin, First Edition (5 results)

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. First Edition, 6th Printing. Not price-clipped. Published by W.W. Norton & Company, 1964. Octavo. Paperback. Book is very good with shelf/edgewear and bend on back cover. 100% positive feedback. 30 day money back guarantee. NEXT DAY SHIPPING! Excellent customer service. Please email with any questions. All books packed carefully and ship with free delivery confirmation/tracking. All books come with free bookmarks. Ships from Sag Harbor, New York.

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. First Edition, First Thus. Text/BRAND NEW. Soft cover/NF, w/light wear & showing discoloration. PO name to title page. Classic study in linguistics. Published w/o ISBN; ISBN assigned to Norton reprint of 2000. This 1964 Norton issue carries Otto Jespersen's (1893 - 1943) preface dated 1921. Text in 4 books: Book I, History of Linguistics; II, The Child; III, The Individual & the World (The Foreigner, Pidgin & Congeners, The Woman, Causes of Change); and, IV, Development of Language. Fine copy.

An excellent hardcover copy of the first edition/tenth printing (1954), with dustjacket: book and dustjacket very good plus - near fine. Red cloth-covered boards, gilt spine lettering, 8 5/8 x 5 3/4 inches, 448 pp., index. (K050) Language is a perpetual orphic song, Which rules with Daedal harmony a throng Of thoughts and forms, which else senseless and shapeless were. (This famous quote is from Act IV of Percy Bysshe Shelley's lyrical drama, Prometheus Unbound (lines 415-417), written in 1820. It highlights the power of language to transform chaotic thoughts and formless experiences into ordered, meaningful, and creative, "daedal" (skilful or intricate) beauty, functioning as a continuous, magical, "Orphic" song. Key Themes and Analysis: Orphic Song: Refers to Orpheus, the mythical Greek bard whose music could charm nature, suggesting language possesses a magical, divine, and creative power. Daedal Harmony: Derived from Daedalus, the mythical architect, "daedal" means intricate, skilful, or cunningly designed, implying that language provides a complex, artistic structure to human thought. Shaping Chaos: The quote posits that without language, thoughts are "senseless and shapeless," making language the crucial tool for giving form to ideas, similar to a creative force organizing chaos. Context: In Prometheus Unbound, this line appears in a section celebrating the rejuvenation of the world, highlighting the transformative potential of expression and creative communication.).

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Fair. 1st Edition. 10th ptg of (1922)1stedn; hb 8vo red cloth slight water stains to inside covers, prevown stamp to fep, dj has lib# pastedown to spine ow G/Gdj : 448pp, index, bibl;TOC: Book I, History of Linguistics; II, The Child; III, The Individual & the World (The Foreigner, Pidgin & Congeners, The Woman, Causes of Change); and, IV, Development of Language.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. First American edition, 1922. Very good. Ribbed forest green cloth, very good, minor bump to bottom corners. Distinguished professor's copy with his bookplate and sepia signature on endpaper: George Weida Spohn. A tight square copy. No dust jacket. Uncommon in first edition. Jespersen was a Danish linguist who specialized in the grammar of the English language, described as "one of the greatest language scholars of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries." "Language: Its Nature, Development and Origin" (1922) is considered by many to be his masterpiece.