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Martin, Peter, 1940-
Subjects
Webster, Noah, 1758-1843.
Worcester, Joseph E. (Joseph Emerson), 1784-1865.
G. & C. Merriam Company.
English language -- United States -- Lexicography -- History.
Encyclopedias and dictionaries -- History and criticism.
Browse Catalog
by author:
Martin, Peter, 1940-
by title:
The dictionary wars ...
by call number:
423.092 M382d
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Martin, Peter, 1940-
Webster, Noah, 1758-1843.
Worcester, Joseph E. (Joseph Emerson), 1784-1865.
G. & C. Merriam Company.
English language -- United States -- Lexicography -- History.
Encyclopedias and dictionaries -- History and criticism.
MARC Display
The dictionary wars : the American fight over the
English
language
/ Peter Martin.
by
Martin, Peter, 1940-
Princeton University Press, 2019.
Call #:
423.092 M382d
Subjects
Webster, Noah, 1758-1843.
Worcester, Joseph E. (Joseph Emerson), 1784-1865.
G. & C. Merriam Company.
English
language
--
United
States
--
Lexicography
--
History
.
Encyclopedias and dictionaries
--
History
and criticism.
ISBN:
9780691188911 (hc.)
Description:
x, 358 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.
Bibliography:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 311-347) and index.
Contents:
Part one. Noah Webster's battles. British mockery and American disdain ; Noah Webster: "The wildest innovator" ; Webster's first dictionary ; Displacing Delilah ; The lexicographer's fifth column ; Tea and copyright: Goodrich takes over ; Spelling wars: the rise of Lyman Cobb ; The "common thief" ; Webster's decline
--
Part two. The Merriams at war. Taking Webster out of Webster: from family feuds to the Merriam Brothers ; Waiting for Worcester ; The Bohn affair ; Converse's complaint ; Children, money, and "trash" ; High stakes: "Have we a national standard of
language
?" ; The "terrible rival": Worcesterian resurgence ; The Merriams triumphant: "Worcester! Worcester! all change for Webster!"
--
Conclusion
--
Appendix A: The "Webster" brand
--
Appendix B: Four centuries of selected dictionaries of the
English
language
--
Appendix C: Publishing terms
--
Appendix D: "The spelling bee at Angels (reported by Truthful James)," by Bret Harte.
Summary:
"A compelling
history
of the national conflicts that resulted from efforts to produce the first definitive American dictionary of
English
. ... [
English
professor] Peter Martin recounts the patriotic fervor in the early American republic to produce a definitive national dictionary that would rival Samuel Johnson's 1755 Dictionary of the
English
Language
. But what began as a cultural war of independence from Britain devolved into a battle among lexicographers, authors, scholars, and publishers, all vying for dictionary supremacy and shattering forever the dream of a unified American
language
. The overwhelming questions in the dictionary wars involved which and whose
English
was truly American and whether a dictionary of
English
should attempt to be American at all, independent from Britain. Martin tells the human story of the intense rivalry between America's first lexicographers, Noah Webster and Joseph Emerson Worcester, who fought over who could best represent the soul and identity of American culture. Webster believed an American dictionary, like the American
language
, ought to be informed by the nation's republican principles, but Worcester thought that such
language
reforms were reckless and went too far. Their conflict continued beyond Webster's death, when the ambitious Merriam brothers acquired publishing rights to Webster's American Dictionary and launched their own
language
wars. From the beginning of the nineteenth century to the end of the Civil War, the dictionary wars also engaged America's colleges, libraries, newspapers, religious groups, and state legislatures at a pivotal historical moment that coincided with rising literacy and the print revolution. Delving into the personal stories and national debates that arose from the conflicts surrounding America's first dictionaries, The Dictionary Wars examines the linguistic struggles that underpinned the founding and growth of a nation."--Dust jacket.
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Call No.
Item type
Status
Captain William Spry Public Library
Adult Nonfiction
423.092 M382d
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