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

Walker, John

Published by printed by Budd and Bartram, for H. & P. Price [et al.], Philadelphia, 1803

About this Item

First American edition, 8vo, pp. cxxxi, [1], [990]; lexicon in double column; moderate foxing and damp throughout, joints tender, top of spine cracked loose, but preserved and strengthened, else a good copy in full contemporary sheep, rubbed and scuffed, original leather label on spine. The corners of leaves 3B1 to 3B4 are torn in the corner, but the pieces are present so no loss of text. Based on the third edition of 1798, this edition is uncommon -- the AAS copy and the Cordell copy are imperfect, and Alston locates only the copies at Yale, Columbia, and the Library of Congress. Sheridan, Perry and Entick were the only English lexicographers to precede Walker in the American market. Unlike these dictionaries, though, Walker's took hold on American soil, and editions of him proliferated here through the first half of the 19th century. Much of Walker's theory of pronunciation was later adopted by Joseph Worcester, who introduced in his own dictionaries Walker's "correct" or "King's English" pronunciation to Americans, thereby exerting Walker's considerable influence over the speech of many Americans. American Imprints 5527; Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, 4876.

Seller Inventory # 64343

Bibliographic Details

• Title: 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
• Publisher: printed by Budd and Bartram, for H. & P. Price [et al.], Philadelphia
• Publication Date: 1803
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