REVIEW.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1164, 22 June 1894, Page 30

REVIEW.

WEBSTER'S INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY. " Webster's Dictionary " is almost equal to time immemorial, and but for " Sir, said the great lexicographer," would bo quite so. Wo mean that of all dictionaries of the English language, it is the next in point of antiquity to Dr Johnson's. Johnson's preceded Webster's by something like half a century. It is quite natural that the first dictionary of our tongue should have come from the country where that tongue was cradled. But it is very extraordinary that everything that has since been done to make a standard English dictionary should have come from America. We sneer at the "travelers" who come from the "centers," we smile with contempt at tno remarkable use of what to us are ordinary terms, we resent the imputation conveyed to us by the American suggestion that we speak " with an English accent," we smile broadly when we read Russell Lowell's marvellous intellectual tour de force by which he proves conclusively that the Yankee dialect is drawn straight from the "well of English undenled," which the famous Mayflower brought over to New England, together with many other things, i and sundry people of equally rough, and in some respects, objectionable character. But for all our laughter and our sneers, the fact remains that the only dictionary of our language which is now, and has been for the last GO years, up to date, is an American production. Yankee enterprise has certainly beaten the Britisher on his own ground. The original Webster was published in 1828, and at once Johnson fell out of date. In 1847, the world having done more, discovered more, and worked in more complex fashion, Webster felt the want and brought out a second edition. He remembered also that philology had made great strides, and the philologists of the time he got to place their mark in his second edition. In the fifties some time another edition was brought out after his death, with illustrations, a departure which greatly pleased the readers. But it was not until 1864 that the dictionary reached its highest point, of the many it had then attained. That edition fairly distanced all competitors, prepared %s it was under the editorship of Dr Webster's son-in-law, who had been tfie companion of his labours in 1828. The present edition, which we have received from the publishers, leaves everything of the past in the shade. A colossal work of nearly 3000 pages, it has employed 100 literary men in regular harness, and many distinguished scholars who have regarded the work as a labour of love, for ten years under the editorship of Professor Porter. We do not marvel to learn that it has cost ,£60,000 to produce. A handier volume, though bulky, we have never seen. Useless to enter into detail; we need only say that to look for anything is to find it at once. And let us add that when you find a word it is not the word as it was used by the men of any of the ages that are gone, but the word as it is used by the people to-day, with all that you can possibly want to know about it philologically, 1 gtamjaaticaUy, fractionally. Vd&Q »<«*

dictionaries, it gives biography, geography, history, every branch of modern reference ; ' and if you want to look up imaginary people, you will find them duly set out in their alphabetical order. For instance, wo called upon our old friend " Becky Sharp," and we found that delightful woman at home in state as " a female sharper who is a prominent character in Thackeray's 'Vanity Fair,' distinguished by her intriguing disposition, her selfishness, good humour, energy, perseverance, cleverness, and utter want of heart and moral purpose." It was thrilling, when all this was over, to be referred for furthcr particulars to the " Marquis of Steyne," another of our old friends, a perfect prize-man of fbtion, as his fond parent would have called him had ho been less modest. In the course of our ramble wo looked in upon a whole host of acquaintances, the illustrious " Sairey Gamp," the immortal Mr Chadband, the ancient Shylock, who once cried "O, my ducats! O, my daughter!" " Sam Slick, the elockmakor," and many more of tho immortals, and found them all in their places and ready for company. Biography of real persons we noted to be distinguished for brevity, as for example, "Theodore, King of Abyssinia, 1818-1868" Tolstoi (Leo Nikolaivitch) :>Rus. Nov. and Socialist, 1829, ." In like manner is the gazeteer set forth, giving every conceivable place, with everything required about it, and all compressed into a line. In another page we noticed a ship in full sail with every piece of canvas and every rope yard duly drawn and named. As she had only single topsails wo feel bound to supposo that tho marine compiler had either not examined his drawing carefully, or was of the order of " old salt " which regards tho doubled topsail as one of tho modern inventions of The Evil One, " not tolerated in my day, sir, when woik tvas work." With this exception tho International Dictionary is tho most complete, most up to date, most judiciously compiled, and, in spite of its volume, most remarkably well condensed book of its kind. It is at once a dictionary and an encyclopaedia up to date. No library can be said to bo complete without it. There aro imitators, wo learn, in plenty, which have developed from some old Webster of far off date, taken up after the expiry of tho copyright. But nono of them have the name of G. and C. Merriam and Co., the publishing firm of Springfield, Massachusetts, who have brouglit out tho International in such fine style. Thus the dictionary devised by an American who fought against us in tho War of Independence has becomo the greatest of English dictionaries. It is another American victory, quite as striking, when you come to reflect, as the first.