JOHNSON, Samuel

A Dictionary of the English Language: In Which the Words Are Deduced from Their Originals, and Illustrated in Their Different Significations by Examples from the Best Writers. To Which Are Prefixed, a History of the Language, and an English Grammar

London, W. Strahan for J. Knapton et al. 1755. First Edition. Hardcover. Two tall, thick folio (10-1/2" x 17") volumes, each with a title page, in contemporary calf leather neatly rebacked with the original spines with contrasting red and black morocco spine labels. The true First Edition of Johnson's great literary labor, “a monument of industry and talent [and] the unrivalled authority for the English language” (COURTNEY AND SMITH, page 54) and “the most amazing, enduring and endearing one-man feat in the field of lexicography” (PRINTING AND THE MIND OF MAN). SLATE contributor Adam Kirsch in a 2003 NPR broadcast said this about Johnson's DICTIONARY: "The modern dictionary's ideal reader is a Martian scientist: someone with no background knowledge who wants a unique definition for every word. Johnson's dictionary, on the other hand, implies a reader much like Johnson himself: a curious and intelligent English speaker who wants to gain a fuller sense of words he already knows. Johnson clearly recognizes the paradox of the dictionary-- you have to know most of what's in it in order to use it" ("Slate's Culturebox: Johnson's 18th-Century English," DAY TO DAY, 24 September 2003). Volume 1 title page with small paper repair to upper fore-edge; volume 2 title page damp-stained; occasional light spotting, the second volume with occasional light marginal damp-staining. Near Fine, attractive copy .

Charles AgventProfessional seller

Book number: 021535

Catalogue: Dictionaries

Keywords: 18th Century Literature, High Spots, Dictionary, English Language, Samuel Johnson, Classics 18th Century Literature Literature: English Dictionary High Spots

WEBSTER, Noah

An American Dictionary of the English Language; First Edition in Octavo, Containing the Whole Vocabulary of the Quarto, with Corrections, Improvements and Several Thousand Additional Words: To Which Is Prefixed an Introductory Dissertation on the Origin, History and Connection of the Languages of Western Asia and Europe, with an Explanation of the Principles on Which Languages Are Formed

New Haven, CT, Published by the author, 1841. First Octavo Edition. Hardcover. Two royal octavo (7" x 10-1/2") volumes in contemporary calf leather with gilt-lettered black morocco spine labels, marbled edges and endpapers. Illustrated with a frontispiece portrait. Webster's groundbreaking dictionary was originally published in New York in 1828 in a slightly larger format. Laid in is the Preface to the Revised Edition of 1847. Light, scattered foxing; stain at bottom margin of first volume not affecting text. Covers rubbed with some loss of leather and staining to first volume; binding tight and firm. Very Good PRINTING AND THE MIND OF MAN 291: "Webster was an ardent nationalist and he wanted to stress the political separation from Britain by the cultivation of a separate American language. Under the influence of his friend Benjamin Franklin he turned his attention to 'a reformed mode of spelling,' and although he rejected the radical phonetic innovations proposed by Franklin, he went far enough to give many printed American words a distinctive appearance.

Charles AgventProfessional seller

Book number: 021534

Catalogue: Dictionaries

Keywords: 19th Century Literature, High Spot, Dictionary, Dictionaries, English Language, Noah Webster, Classics Literature: American 19th Century American Literature Dictionary High Spots