A new general English dictionary...the ninth edition, with the addition of several market towns...
London: printed for C. Ware, 1758. 8vo, [16] & unpaginated lexicon in double column; 20th century half brown polished calf over marbled boards; title page a little soiled, else good and sound, or better. Because this dictionary stressed departments not found in Bailey, Dyche & Pardon were able to grab a small, loyal share of the growing dictionary market. Their dictionary, aimed at a less educated class than Bailey, stressed proper accentuation and pronunciation (it was the first of many dictionaries to stress pronunciation); and, anticipating Webster, suggested several improvements in spelling which were subsequently adopted ("physick" to "physic," for example). Etymology is omitted. The dictionary was begun by Dyche, a schoolmaster, who had two previous books to his credit, A Guide to the English Tongue (1709; 48th ed. by 1774); and, A Dictionary of all the Words commonly us'd in the English Tongue (1723), both of which stressed spelling and pronunciation, but gave no definitions. Of William Pardon little is known. The New General English Dictionary is, however, "so different in character from the earlier Dyche works that we are naturally tempted to visit its eccentricities on the unknown Pardon" (see Starnes & Noyes, chapt. XVII). The work incorporated the names and descriptions of hundreds of English and Welsh towns, with their market-days, government, manufactures, distances from London, etc. It was partially due to this gazetteer-like entry that the work remained popular with the public. Alston V, 153. Item #34034
Price: $425.00
