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1828 · 102755 — New York: Published by S. Converse. Printed by Hezekiah Howe 1828. Rare first edition of Webster's monumental American Dictionary one of only 2500 copies with <span class="glossaryQtip qTip">frontispiece</span> portrait of the pioneering lexicographer in full contemporary calf. Quarto two volumes bound in full contemporary calf marbled endpapers illustrated frontispiece tissue guard present. In near fine condition light toning to the text. Most rare and desirable bound in contemporary calf. An exceptional example most rare without any restoration. In 1807 Webster began compiling a fully comprehensive dictionary An American Dictionary of the English Language; it took twenty-eight years to complete. To evaluate the etymology of words Webster learned twenty-six languages including Old English Anglo-Saxon Greek Hebrew and Latin. Webster completed his dictionary during his year abroad in 1825 in Paris France and at the University of Cambridge. His book contained seventy thousand words of which twelve thousand had never appeared in a published dictionary before. As a spelling reformer Webster believed that English spelling rules were unnecessarily complex so his dictionary introduced American English spellings replacing colour with color substituting wagon for waggon and printing center instead of center. He also added American words like skunk and squash that did not appear in British dictionaries. At the age of seventy Webster published his dictionary in 1828 registering the copyright on April 14. Webster did all this in an effort to standardize the American language. "This dictionary which almost at once became and has remained the standard English dictionary in the United States was the end-product of a stream of spelling books grammars readers and dcitionaries which flowed from the pen of the industrious Noah Webster.Webster's great dictionary all the 70000 entries of which he wrote with his own hand has been reprinted and brought up to date innumerable times.the book marked a definite advance in modern lexicography as it included many non-literary terms and paid great attention to the language actually spoken. Moreover his definitions of the meaning of words were accurate and concise.and have for the greater part stood the test of time superbly well" Printing and the Mind of Man. "As a whole Webster's American Dictionary was a scholarly achievement of the first order richly deserving of its great reputation at home and abroad" DAB. With definitions for "some 70000 words--15000 more than any previous English lexicon. Although only 2500 copies of the first edition were printed the work established Webster as a lexicographer of international repute" Lathem 76 United Statesiana 9. Published by S. Converse. Printed by Hezekiah Howe unknown books