About this Item
LAST 12 LEAVES (24 PAGES) OF TEXT-BLOCK LACKING! - INCOMPLETE TEXT-BLOCK! A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language. In which Five Thousand Words are added to the number found in the BEST ENGLISH COMPENDS; The Orthography is, in some instances, corrected; The Pronunciation marked by an Accent or other suitable Direction; And the Definitions of many Words amended and a=improved. To which are Added for the Benefit of the Traveller, I. Tables of Moneys… II. Tables of Weights… III. The Divisions of Time… IV. An official List of the Post-Offices in the United States… V. The Number of Inhabitants in the United States… VI. New and Interesting Chronological Tables… By Noah Webster. From Sidney s Press. For Mudson & Goodwin, and Increase Cooke & Co., New Haven, CT, 1806. First Edition. INCOMPLETE TEXT-BLOCK! 384 p ONLY (out of 408). Leather binding measures 7 x 4.5 , 12mo. In poor condition. As is. LAST 12 LEAVES (24 PAGES) OF TEXT-BLOCK LACKING! Rear board DETACHED from binding. Boards scuffed at edges and worn/bumped at corners. Head and tail of spine chipped with exposed binding. Title label lacking. Hinges creased; leather desiccated. Binding cocked. Water or tea dampness staining found in gutter from front end-page to page 25 approximately. Pencil marginalia on front paste-down & end-page (verso). Old-hand ink ownership signature on front end-page: Patty Bishop . First leaf of dictionary (pages 1-2) exhibits large four inch tear from bottom edge - it appears there is NO loss of text. Pages 11-12, 65-68, 153-154 ARE CHIPPED AT ETIHER FORE OR TOP EDGES WITH LOSS OF TEXT! Pages 85-88 & 95-96 exhibit large tears from fore-edges to gutters. Sporadic underlining, dotting & marking through text-block; one instance of marginalia on top edge of page 94. Blue ink staining on pages 201-202 & 339. Some margins are extremely tight. Toning and age-staining through text-block. LAST 12 LEAVES (24 PAGES) OF TEXT-BLOCK LACKING! - INCOMPLETE TEXT-BLOCK! Please see photos and ask questions, if any, before purchasing. Noah Webster (1758 1843), the author of the readers and spelling books which dominated the American market at the time, spent decades of research in compiling his dictionaries. His first dictionary, A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language, appeared in 1806. In it, he popularized features which would become a hallmark of American English spelling (center rather than centre, honor rather than honour, program rather than programme, etc.) and included technical terms from the arts and sciences rather than confining his dictionary to literary words. Webster was a proponent of English spelling reform for reasons both philological and nationalistic. Despite its significant place in the history of American English, Webster's first dictionary sold only 2,500 copies. He was forced to mortgage his home to develop a second edition, and for the rest of his life he had debt problems. The first edition of Webster's first Dictionary, and the first truly American dictionary, notable for the inclusion of many words in common usage but omitted from earlier lexicons, and for its concise, effective definitions. A landmark in the history of lexicography and in the evolution of the American language, predating Webster's two-volume unabridged Dictionary by twenty-two years. LAST 12 LEAVES (24 PAGES) OF TEXT-BLOCK LACKING! - INCOMPLETE TEXT-BLOCK! FORN-SHELF-0472-XX-2511-HK2913.
Seller Inventory # FORN-SHELF-0472-XX-2511-HK2913
Contact seller
Report this item
