The dictionary wars : The American fight over the English language / Peter Martin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Martin, Peter, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Webster, Noah, 1758-1843.

Webster, Noah.

Worcester, Joseph E. (Joseph Emerson), 1784-1865.

Worcester, Joseph E.

G. & C. Merriam Company.

Merriam-Webster, Inc.

Encyclopedias and dictionaries--History and criticism.

Encyclopedias and dictionaries.

English language--Lexicography--History.

English language.

English language--United States--Lexicography--History.

United States.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 358 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

A compelling history of the national conflicts that resulted from efforts to produce the first definitive American dictionary of English. In The Dictionary Wars, 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.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

1. British Mockery and American Disdain

2. Noah Webster

3. Webster's First Dictionary

4. Displacing Delilah

5. The Lexicographer's Fifth Column

6. Tea and Copyright

7. Spelling Wars

8. The "Common Thief "

9. Webster's Decline

10. Taking Webster out of Webster

11. Waiting for Worcester

12. The Bohn Affair

13. Converse's Complaint

14. Children, Money, and "Trash"

15. High Stakes

16. The "Terrible Rival"

17. The Merriams Triumphant

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

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 06. Apr 2020)

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780691189994

0691189994

OCLC:

1090397141