thumb|right|joseph emerson worcester joseph emerson worcester (august 24, 1784 &ndash; october 27, 1865) was an american lexicographer who was the chief competitor to noah webster of webster's dictionary in the mid-nineteenth-century. their rivalry became known as the "dictionary wars". worcester's dictionaries focused on traditional pronunciation and spelling, unlike noah webster's attempts to americanize words. worcester was respected by american writers and his dictionary maintained a strong hold on the american marketplace until a later, posthumous version of webster's book appeared in 1864. after worcester's death in 1865, their war ended. ==biography== worcester was born august 24, 1784, in bedford, new hampshire, and worked on a farm in his youth, entering phillips academy, andover, in 1805. in 1809, he entered yale university and graduated in two years. he began a school in salem, massachusetts in march 1812, but gave up on the project by 1815.moore, margaret b. the salem world of nathaniel hawthorne. university of missouri press, 1998: 80. isbn 0-8262-1149-6 one of his students had been a young nathaniel hawthorne;meltzer, milton. nathaniel hawthorne: a biography. twenty-first century books, 2006: 22. isbn 978-0-7613-3459-0 worcester tutored hawthorne privately at the boy's home.wineapple, brenda. hawthorne: a life. new york: random house, 2004: 27. isbn 0-8129-7291-0 during this time, worcester worked on several works on geography, including a geographical dictionary, or universal gazetteer, ancient and modern, which was published in 1817. he wrote a much-used textbook, elements of history, ancient and modern, accompanied by an historical atlas, published in 1827. ===dictionary war=== worcester's first edited dictionary was an abridgment of samuel johnson's english dictionary, as improved by todd, and abridged by chalmers; with walker's pronouncing dictionary combined, published in the united states in 1827,jackson, howard. lexicography: an introduction. new york: routledge, 2002: 63. isbn 0-415-23173-6 the year before noah webster's american dictionary appeared. having worked as an assistant on the production of webster's dictionary, he produced an abridgment of webster's work in 1829. worcester believed that webster's dictionary sacrificed tradition and elegance.corbett, william. literary new england: a history and guide. boston: faber and faber, 1993: 30. isbn 0-571-19816-3 worcester's version added new words, excluded etymology, and focused on pronunciation.  worcester published his comprehensive pronouncing and explanatory english dictionary in 1830, inciting 
1784_births 1865_deaths American_lexicographers Brown_University_alumni Burials_at_Mount_Auburn_Cemetery Dartmouth_College_alumni People_from_Bedford,_New_Hampshire Phillips_Academy_alumni Yale_University_alumni