WEBSTER, NOAH. An American Dictionary of the English Language. New York: S. Converse, 1828. 2 vols, 4to, 280 x 230 mm. (11 1/16 x 9 1/16 in.), contemporary calf, rebacked, edges repaired, joints and extremities rubbed, lacks frontispiece of vol. II and advertisement leaves, browning and staining to frontispiece in vol. I, occasional light foxing, marginal tear to J3 in vol. I and to last leaf in vol. II, some ink marginalia. FIRST EDITION of the quarto unabridged dictionary (preceded by the Compendious Dictionary, 1806, with its abridgement for schools, 1807), engraved portrait frontispiece of Webster by A. H. Durand after S. F. B. Morse. Grolier American 36 ("The most ambitious publication ever undertaken, up to that time, upon American soil"); Sabin 102335; PMM 291 ("Webster's great dictionary, all the 70,000 entries of which he wrote with his own hand...marked a definite advance in modern lexicography, as it included many non-literary terms and paid great attention to the language actually spoken... Webster succeeded in breaking the fetters imposed upon American English by Dr. Johnson, to the ultimate benefit of the living languages of both countries.")Provenance: Michael Fluy(?), Jr., New York, 1832, ownership inscription in ink on title of vol. II. (2)

The Property of WESTERN RESERVE ACADEMY

WEBSTER, NOAH. An American Dictionary of the English Language. New York: S. Converse, 1828. 2 vols, 4to, 280 x 230 mm. (11 1/16 x 9 1/16 in.), contemporary calf, rebacked, edges repaired, joints and extremities rubbed, lacks frontispiece of vol. II and advertisement leaves, browning and staining to frontispiece in vol. I, occasional light foxing, marginal tear to J3 in vol. I and to last leaf in vol. II, some ink marginalia. FIRST EDITION of the quarto unabridged dictionary (preceded by the Compendious Dictionary, 1806, with its abridgement for schools, 1807), engraved portrait frontispiece of Webster by A. H. Durand after S. F. B. Morse. Grolier American 36 ("The most ambitious publication ever undertaken, up to that time, upon American soil"); Sabin 102335; PMM 291 ("Webster's great dictionary, all the 70,000 entries of which he wrote with his own hand...marked a definite advance in modern lexicography, as it included many non-literary terms and paid great attention to the language actually spoken... Webster succeeded in breaking the fetters imposed upon American English by Dr. Johnson, to the ultimate benefit of the living languages of both countries.") Provenance: Michael Fluy(?), Jr., New York, 1832, ownership inscription in ink on title of vol. II. (2)

Details

WEBSTER, NOAH. An American Dictionary of the English Language. New York: S. Converse, 1828. 2 vols, 4to, 280 x 230 mm. (11 1/16 x 9 1/16 in.), contemporary calf, rebacked, edges repaired, joints and extremities rubbed, lacks frontispiece of vol. II and advertisement leaves, browning and staining to frontispiece in vol. I, occasional light foxing, marginal tear to J3 in vol. I and to last leaf in vol. II, some ink marginalia. FIRST EDITION of the quarto unabridged dictionary (preceded by the Compendious Dictionary, 1806, with its abridgement for schools, 1807), engraved portrait frontispiece of Webster by A. H. Durand after S. F. B. Morse. Grolier American 36 ("The most ambitious publication ever undertaken, up to that time, upon American soil"); Sabin 102335; PMM 291 ("Webster's great dictionary, all the 70,000 entries of which he wrote with his own hand...marked a definite advance in modern lexicography, as it included many non-literary terms and paid great attention to the language actually spoken... Webster succeeded in breaking the fetters imposed upon American English by Dr. Johnson, to the ultimate benefit of the living languages of both countries.")

Provenance: Michael Fluy(?), Jr., New York, 1832, ownership inscription in ink on title of vol. II. (2)