Morning journal and courier., 1883-06-22
RECENT PUBLICATIONS.
The Imperial Dictionary.

| 4n0 AmperHAR D1CS1Onary.
 The first edition of the Imperial Diction
 ary,'' compiled by the well known lexico grapher Dr. John Ogilvie, was finished 1T 1850. It was 8 large work, containing about 1000 more terms than any dictionary then extant, and was the first of the great stand
 ard dictionaries to employ illustrative engra wings as an aid to definition. In 1855 SUD- plement containing over twenty thousand ! words and phrases was added, and the work
 thus augmented has long been accepted in 1 England as 8 standard dictionary of the Eng \ fish language. Now, after ten years spent
 in revision, under the editorship of Mr. Charles Annandale, new edition in four
 royal Svo volumes has appeared, containing nearly 5000 pages and 13O,O words,-the
 largest and completest dictionary of the Eng fish language in existence. This work the Century company offers to the American public in the exact form which the English editors have given to it, in the belief that it will meet a long-felt want of American schol- ars and general readers.
 This is undoubtedly the best general dic- tionary of the English language in existence. In it are incorporated the latest develop
 ments in philology, which make it's scholar
 ship unrivaled. For the general reader the most important features of dictionary are nitions. In both these points the general excellence of the Imperial is conspicuous. Under the word 'fgo,'' V. i, for example, we
 notice nineteen definitions, to which are ad-
 ded thirty. three special phrases having sixty
 six different meanings. Under "good," a., are thirteen definitions and eleven phrases
 with fifteen different meanings and this . fulIness is characteristic of the entire work.
 The individual definitions are, as & rule, good, and for conoiseness and clearness leave little to be desired. As in all English die tionaries, however, too little attention is paid to logical and historical arrangement. An ether excellent feature of the book is the large number of illustrative quotations. The tImperiaI' excels all other dictionaries of the English language, except perhaps Richardson's, in it's use of this important aid to definition. Each page is replete with ci- tations from every age and style of English literature. In all over fifteen hundred au- %hors are quoted. But the most attractive I6aturo OL Lu6 "O1A 10 4IS cuC4y CHEF acter-the insertion of general information beyond the purely formal definition. This was distinguishing feature of the earliest edition, and has been generally approved. It greatly increases the value of the work. Such vast amount of general information is inserted that in every branch of science, in zoology, botany, mechanics, medicine, archaeology, and so on, this dictionary is very complete work of reference. We open the book at random, and find under such words as ''abbey,' ''adjutant bird,'' tear bon," telegraph" 7" ''telephone,'' etc., etc., long explanatory articles. In addition to this, the whole is embellished with about three thousand engrsvings, which are by far the best of their kind we have seen.
 The great number of valuable new words in the 'Tmperfal" is a marked advantage. The rare words are generally those whose meaning we most wish to know. One will search other dictionaries in vain for such words as 'tboycott.' "by-product," ''cleru- chial, 'tpetrobrusian, D etc., etc., which gre here fully defined. Explanations of Scotch and local English words and phrases, Ameri- canisms, colloquialisms, and even slang terms have been very generously supplied.
 In a word, the Imperial Dictionary is work of profound scholarship and good judgment, and will easily find place for it. self in American literature.