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Overview
Noah Webster was described by the publisher of a competing dictionary as "a vain ... plodding Yankee, who aspired to be a second Johnson"--a criticism that rings mostly true. He was certainly vain and, born in Connecticut, undeniably a Yankee. Moreover, though he referred to Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language as a "barren desart of philology," the American lexicographer relied heavily on the book during the creation of his own American Dictionary, going so far as to filch whole sections. And few would seem more "plodding" than Webster, who was positively obsessed with collecting and preserving bits of information. He kept records of the weather, carefully logged the number of houses in every new town he passed through, filed away every scrap of his writing and everything written about him, and filled the margins of his books with references, dates and corrections.
The proud Yankee's sensibilities, however, also made him a fine lexicographer. Generally credited with distinguishing American spelling and usage from British, Webster shunned prescriptive mores and was doggedly loyal to his own language habits, as well as to those of the average American speaker.
The book covers Webster's major publications and the influences and methods that shaped them; recounts his life as schoolteacher, copyright law champion, and itinerant lecturer; and examines the Webster legacy. An appendix containing title page reproductions from Webster's books, as well as some from his predecessors and competitors, is also included.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780786421572 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers |
| Publication date: | 02/04/2005 |
| Pages: | 358 |
| Product dimensions: | 7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.72(d) |
| Age Range: | 18 Years |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Table of ContentsPreface
Introduction
1. School Teacher and Student of Law, 1778–1782
2. Two Earlier Spelling Books
3. The Development of the English Dictionary, 1604–1783
4. Webster’s Grammatical Institute, Part I
5. “Origin of the Copy-right Laws in the United States”
6. Webster in Hartford, 1783–1785
7. Itinerant Lecturer and Spelling Reformer
8. Webster in Phildaelphia, and in Love, 1787
9. Webster in New York, 1788
10. Brother James’ Beneficiary, 1789–1798
11. Webster in New Haven, 1798–1807
12. Webster Moves to Amherst
13. An American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828
14. Two More Dictionaries and Another Spelling Book, 1829
15. Webster in Washington, 1830–31
16. Cobb v. Webster; Webster v. Worcester, 1829–1835
17. William Goes West, 1835–1839
18. Webster’s Last Years, 1839–1843
19. Executors, Heirs, and Renewers
20. Ogilvie’s Imperial Dictionary, 1850
21. A Gross Literary Fraud Exposed, 1853–1854
22. Thomas Heber Orr and the Process of Primitive Wordgrowth
23. Webster’s Pictorial Edition and Worcester’s Dictionary of the English Language, 1859–1860
24. The Right to Use the Name “Webster”
Notes
Appendix
Index