Jun 21, 2016 - Sale 2420

Sale 2420 - Lot 319

Price Realized: $ 6,250
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 6,000 - $ 9,000
WEBSTER, NOAH. An American Dictionary of the English Language. Frontispiece portrait. [88], [907]; [2], [924] pages. 2 volumes. 4to, contemporary calf gilt, moderate wear, rear joint split; minimal foxing; penciled binder's note on title pages. New York, 1828

Additional Details

first edition of webster's unabridged dictionary, following his much shorter 12mo dictionary issued in 1806. Webster played a major role in codifying American English, with hundreds of distinctively American spellings such as "color" and "center." Its frequent reliance upon biblical quotations has kept it relevant even today among many religious families. "The most ambitious publication ever undertaken, up to that time, upon American soil" (DAB). "One of the great contributions toward mass education, this Dictionary placed correct spelling and usage within the reach of Everyman"--Grolier Hundred 36. Printing and the Mind of Man 291; Sabin 102335.