Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1855-04-26

Springfield March l2, 1856.
From the Boston Mercantile Reporter for March,
| 1855.
THE BATTLE OF THE DICTIONARIES.
In the contest which is being waged be-
tween The Springfield and Boston publish
ing houses, as to the merits and popularity
Of their respective dictionaries. it seems to
be claimed by The Boston publishers and
their allies in The editorial ranks, in this Gle
~ and vicinity Worcester has sImos. the
entire field to himself. end has carried the
pickles on several ou,posls Of The enemv's
csmp in other sections Of the county,. Df
Worcester is The standard authority in Bns-
ton, it is q singular fact. that while the hes,
editions Of both these dictionaries are in The
Nefcan,IIe Library, both side by side upon
the cs,slogue, and both accessible to our
members, Worcester had not been called for
once. lhs, The Librarian or his assis,sn,s csn
rec olec,. for the past three years. This
copy WAS placed in the library in MAY.
lS4S. ii has still on i,s edges The original
polish Of the binders knife, and were II M,
for The official stamps Of the association, i,
would pass for = new copy in any book
store. Webs,er's unabridged. which hiss
been in the library since Oc,oher, lS49. is
in constant use, il beng no unusual clrcum.
s'ance for i. 10 he inquired afier twenty
times day. We invite those who believe
that Worcester is the standard authority in
Boston, 10 a personal examination Of the
two copies in ,his library, and the other
r. I,
"f the copies of the two dictionaries in the
Boston Aihereum, indicate the same fact.
though no, in so marked a manner. thai,
whichever is the standard authority ~ Bus
ton. Webster Is the one that is used.
We are well aware ihs. ,he editors Of
several of the daily journals 10 this ci,v
take great Satisfaction in laud'ng ,be virtues
Of Worcester, aud in deprecia,,ng The merits
Of Webster and from This Circumstance,
probsbly, the claim we have alluded To has
obtained it's chief support. Editors, how
ever, are persons Of strong local attach
ments. Of like passions and prejudicie- with
other men, aud often in less favorable posi-
liens Ga- ahse-ve,ian lrs1uani!v v-,:. s4,z..-7
surrounded by influences Of which the pub
lie iule dream, end on literary topics we
must rely more on facts and our own iu.Ig-
men,s Than on their opinions. From the
respect we entertain for su grea, and sdmi
rable q work as the American Dicuonary,
We have deemed l. orr duty to give il the
bene6. Of the facts We have stated.
Grea, as IS the credit Of Dr.. Webster for
his thirty FIVE years Of labor upon it, he j.
not the sole author no one msn could have
accomplished such work. To his son.in.
corps Of assistants spent three wears, after
the death Of Dr.. Webster in 1913, in revs-
ing the work and bringing ou, the una.
bridged edirion,-,o Dr.. Percival. the poe,.
Professors SIIllmsn, OIms,ead, Mu'dock.
Gibbs, Tu!ly, S'anley, Dana, and Thscher.
of Yale G. 'llege, who. by division Of La
Dor, supplied and defined scientific words
and technical terms. in his own depst tmen,.
is due in a good measure the popularity of
The presen, quarlo edition. II you step in
10 bookstore in London and ask fo1 the
bes. dictionary of the English language the
American Dictionary in quar.o is handed 10
you. A! Paris, LeIpsic, and Hamburg, j.
has no rival. The success OF Dr.. Webster
in reforming many of The absured philoIo-
gical anomalies of our lsngusge-which so
excl,es The ire Of fogy critics in This vicini-
,y-is its highes. Recommendation in foreign
countries.
Li,tle more than a year ego, Mr.. II. G.
Bohn, the noted London publisher, when he
reprinted Worcester, had the sudaci,y to
state on the u,le page that it was ''compiIed
from the ma,erisIs Of Noah Webster, LII.
D., BY Joseph E. Worcester" mos, men,
dacious assertion, for which he was severe
Iy censured by the friends Of both the A.
,nerican photographers. The fac, howev-
er, is significant Of Wo,ces,er's popularity
in England. The willy publisher, with
hand on the pulse of The public opinion.
and with an eve on business, would never
have stolen the name of Dr.. Webster, for
such purpose unless i, was one that in
splred confidence with Blush public
The eres, ''lmperial Dictionary" edited by
Dr.. Ogilvie, and published by Backie g.
Son, Glasgow, the price of which is twenty
dollars, ststes in prominen, capitals upon
its ,ilIe-psge, ihs, j, is based on Webster,
and in fact copies j. entire. While such is
the repu,s.ion Of the gres, American lexi.
coprspher abroad, the publishers Of the RI
val dictionary in Boston are showing him
up as qusck aud on ignorsmus. 10 .
statement of two columns in the Transcript
ol February 22d, which must exci,e the
pity as well as the contemp. Of those
who are converssnt with the fscts Of ,be
controversy, making use Of lelter written
by en- Edward S. Gould, they speak Of him
in this manner "WebsteI's career was
mistake, because based on false assumptions.
He assumed that the language needed re-
formation, and ,ha. he was able 10 reform
il; the latter blunder being the far greater
Of The two"