Arizona citizen., 1877-05-26
The Dictionary ns an Instructor.

We notice as matter well worth mentioning, that at the recent great
 publishers trade sale in New York,
 the books that were most in demand and brought the best prices were Web
 ster's Dictionaries, from the famous
 Quarto to the neat anl handy pocket
 edition. This fact is good indication
 of the almost universal popularity of
 these books, and of the growing pub
 lie demand for them. It indicates also
 a fact of far greater importance, and
 that is the interest the people are talk
 ing in the study of thelr own language
 This is encouraging, as there is no
 branch of education that is now and has been so much neglected as the common branches of spelling and de tining. It is often astonishing and grievOus to see how grossly ignorant are children and youth, and even men and women, of the orthOgraphy, pro nuncialiOn and meaning of ordinary words and phrases They cannot ex- press their thoughts for the want of words, and often they express thoughts very different from what they intend, because they do not understand the words they employ. And very ire quently, from the same cause, they take no idea, or wrong ideas, from what they read or hear.
 The remedy for these evils is the proper training in the study of words, by the use of the Dictionary, and this training should begin as soon as the child can distinguish between one word and another, and continue indefi- nitely. The apparatus for this study should, of course, be the most com plete and thorough 10 be had, and this is abundantly supplied in Webster's Dictionaries, which are justly recog. nized, wherever our language is spok- en, as the standard authority in En- glish. Parents and teachers can in no other way so efTectually Y and SO cheap ly promote the educational interests of their children, when of suitable age, as by putting Tn their hands any one of Webster's School Dictionaries, for daily use Tn connection with the study of their lessons, and by placing on the family center table, or the teachers desk as the authoritative guide and standard, copy Of the Unabridged.
 The unabridged contains 5000 illus trations, over 114,OO0 words in its voca bularies, and 10000 words and mean ings not in any other dictionary; the abridged editions comprise The Pri- mary" which has the largest sale, and which has some capital rules for spell ing. The Common school" is siml- lar, but larger, with tables of synonyms, &C. "The High school" still fuller, with many useful tables; "The Aca- demic " and Counting-house for ad- vanced schools and for general home and business use. The latter has some specially valuable commercial and f. nancial tables. The little Pocket ' edition, with its bright gilt edges and morocco binding, is truly all invalua- ble pocket companion. It contains more than 1S,0O0 words, rules for spell ing, many abbreviatiOns, words and phrases, proverbs, etc., ordinarily met with in the Greek, Latin and Modern Whether it is convenient or not to have copies of any of the olh CT books of the series, we certainly re- that all should possess a copy of the Pocket, which, when not other wise obtainable, may be had by mail by inclosiEg $l.00 10 the publishers, Mersrs. IviSOn, Blakeman, Taylor X Co, 130 and 40 Grand Street, New York.