Description

“Webster’s Improved Dictionary of the English Language” Exhibiting the Origin, Orthography, Pronunciation, and Definition of Words: Embracing All the Principal Terms Used in Literature, Science and Art, according to the Best Authorities. And Likewise Giving the Synonymous Terms for Nearly All the Words Explained. Written by Noah Webster. Published by William MacKenzie, in London, Glasgow, & Edinburgh; Circa 1850. Complete Two Volume Set. A Dictionary of the English Language; Written by Noah Webster, LL.D. To which are added, A Synopsis of Words Differently Pronounced by Different Orthoepists, and Walker’s Key to the Classical Pronunciation of Greek, Latin, and Scripture Proper Names. Revised and Enlarged by Professor C. A. Goodrich. With the Addition of an Orthoëpic Vocabulary of Modern Geographical Names. A New Edition, Corrected, Improved, and Enlarged, by Thomas Heber Orr, Discoverer of the Process of Primitive Wordgrowth. With an Introductory Essay on the Philosophy of Language and General Grammar, by Sir John Stoddart, KNT., LL.D. And a Sketch of the Origin and Progress of the Art of Writing, by Henry Noel Humphreys, author of “The Illuminated Books of the Middle Ages.” In Addition to the above, a section entitled, Treatise on Shorthand or Stenography by Isaac Pitman, ends the Second Volume. Found here is a complete two volume set, bound quarter leather bindings. It is an enormous, incredible leather dictionary is undated, but believed to be from the year 1850, making it aged approximately 175 years old. It is a highly sought after edition of the esteemed Webster’s English Dictionary, complete with many illustrated full-page plates, including multiple fold-out plates and maps. These stunning leather volumes capture a snapshot of the world, stuck within this timeframe, it contains all of the latest “up to date” information in literature, sciences, and art from the middle of the 1800s. This Illustrated Antique Dictionary is complete in two large volumes. Individually, each volume measures 11” tall by 7.75” wide, and approximately 2” thick each, making the set together measure over 4” wide when placed together on a shelf. This Dictionary is Written by Noah Webster, who is strongly believed in developing the cultural independence of the United States, a chief component of which was to be a distinctive American language with its own idiom, pronunciation, and style. This volume was Revised and Enlarged by Chauncey A. Goodrich, who was Noah Webster’s Son in Law, and a Professor at Yale University. This enormous antique two volume set is bound in a stunning navy blue quarter leather binding, over brown boards. It features gold gilt text within a bright red blocked title on the spine. The spine features seven raised bands and lots of gold gilded decorative details. All three page edges are beautifully marbled, in a rainbow of colors, including blues, greens, reds, oranges, and yellows. This set comes pre-loved, although no inscriptions, nor written names are found within it’s beginning pages. The covers show some bumping and rubbing to the edges. The corners are bumped. There is some rubbing to the edges of the spines. The board’s fore-edges have been rubbed and their cloth is worn, showing the board underneath. The bindings are still in excellent condition. There is a very minor crack starting (under 1” long) to the exterior front hinge of Volume One. The bindings are tight and secure. All pages are firmly held in their proper place, with no loose or missing pages. The interior is in excellent condition. There is a black and white engraving of Noah Webster shown as the frontispiece in Volume One. Volume Two boasts a full-color frontispiece, showing Sixteenth Century Egyptian Hieroglyphic Writing. Each volume contains approximately 650 printed pages, in addition to multiple full-page, illustrated plates, of which some even fold-out from the book to make the illustrated page even larger than the book itself! The interior pages remain clean and seem to be unmarked, although each page was not individually inspected. The pages still have sharp corners. There is some foxing present to the endpapers and one or two blank pages at the beginning and end of each volume. This foxing does not continue into the first or last printed pages of the book, and the bulk of each volume is free from evidence of it. This is a heavy set of books, weighing over 11 pounds, unboxed. Its condition is excellent considering it’s age. All in all this large illustrated set gives an historical look into language. It dives into Art, Literature, Science, and so much more; all from a world almost frozen in time, from 175 years ago. It is a history book as much as it is an English Dictionary, all while doubling as a stunningly eye-catching set of home or office decor. The Telegraph, as well as many other state-of-the-art inventions that are boasted in these volumes, have become quite trivial today. Just as the absence of so many things we take for granted in our day to day lives are impossible to miss throughout these pages (some easy examples being an Airplane, Automobile, Computer, Microwave, or Telephone). It is as much a World History Book as it is an English Dictionary, and it is so much more than that! It contains a glimpse of the hard to imagine world we lost close to 200 years ago, still wrapped up in a stunning leather binding. It has clearly been treasured and cared for, and it’s looking for a new home to be loved for the next hundred years! This two volume leather set is bound to earn an honored spot on any History Buff, English Lover or Bibliophile’s bookshelf!