Volume 1

Diary and correspondence of John Evelyn, F.R.S. : to which is subjoined the private correspondence between King Charles I and Sir Edward Nicholas, and between Sir Edward Hyde, afterwards Earl of Clarendon and Sir Richard Browne / edited from the original mss. at Wotton by William Bray.

  • Evelyn, John, 1620-1706.
Date:
1881
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Diary and correspondence of John Evelyn, F.R.S. : to which is subjoined the private correspondence between King Charles I and Sir Edward Nicholas, and between Sir Edward Hyde, afterwards Earl of Clarendon and Sir Richard Browne / edited from the original mss. at Wotton by William Bray. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    WEBSTER’S DICTIONARY. From the Quarterly Review, Oct. 1873. “ Seventy years passed before Johnson was followed by Webster, an American writer, who faced the task of the English Dictionary with a fall appreciation of its requirements, leading to better practical results.” • • • •* “ His laborious comparison of twenty languages, though never pub- lished, bore fruit in his own mind, and his training placed him both in knowledge and judgment far in advance of Johnson as a philologist. Webster’s ‘American Dictionary of the English Language’ was pub- lished in 1828, and of course appeared at once in England, where successive re-editing has as yet kept it in the highest place as a practical Dictionary.” “ The acceptance of an American Dictionary in England has itself had immense effect in keeping up the community of speech, to break which would be a grievous harm, not to English-speaking nations .alone, but to mankind. The result of this has been that the common Dictionary must suit both sides of the Atlantic.” .... “ The good average business-like character of Webster’s Dictionary, both in style and matter, made it as distinctly suited as Johnson’s was distinctly unsuited to be expanded and re-edited by other hands. Professor Goodrich’s edition of 1847 is not much more than enlarged and amended, but other revisions since have so much novelty of plan as to be described as distinct works.” .... “ The American revised Webster’s Dictionary of 1864, published in America and England, is of an altogether higher order than these last [The London Imperial and Student’s]. It bears on its title-page the names of Drs. Goodrich and Porter, but inasmuch as its especial im- provement is in the etymological department, the care of which was committed to Dr. Mahn, of Berlin, we prefer to describe it in short as the Webster-Mahn Dictionary. Many other literary men, among them Professors Whitney and Dana, aided in the task of compilation and revision. On consideration it seems that the editors and contributors have gone far toward improving Webster to the utmost that he will bear improvement. The vocabulary has become almost complete, as regards usual words, while the definitions keep throughout to Webster's simple careful style, and the derivations are assigned with the aid of good, modern authorities.” “ On the whole, the Webster-Mahn Dictionary as it stands, is most respectable, and CERTAINLY THE BEST PRACTICAL ENGLISH DICTIONARY EXTANT.” LONDON: GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.