The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-03-08
PERCIVAL, THE POET.
The Man Who Made Webster's Dictionary
and Died in Poverty.

Beriah Brown, in Seattle W t. Herald.
When the young and accomplished widow of
Fairfield made the attempt to support herself and
children by the publication and sale of Percivals
poems. the pious effort was announced in an Or
gan of the Boston literati under the heading:
Buy Brooml Buy a Broomi Come Buy of a
Wandering Bavarian a Broom"
The gentle, sensitive Percival barely escaped
falling a victim to this mode of attack. Shortly
after the first publication of his poems and the
criticisms upon the same, he was found insensible
in a stone quarry, where he had sought to rid
himself of the brains which had proved his
curse by butting his head against the
rocky walls. His literary assassins represented
this attempt at self destruction as the result of
disappointment in love, but there was not an in
cident connected with his social relations to jus
tify or give color to this conclusion. His was
eminently an ethereal nature-mind without
passion.
He published no more, but devoted himself to
scientific pursuits, for which he had a remarka-
BILE aptitude, until his physical necessities COM
PEELED him TO become a hack writer for distin-
guished literary men of more practical ability:
He was the sole author, compiler and editor of
the first edition of Webster's Unabridged Die
tionary. giving not only the definitions, but the
root and history of over 10000 words
derived from other languages. including
all the written languages of the world
thirty in number-of every one of which he
must have had some critical knowledge. Re
garded in this light, it is the most wonderful lit
erary work ever performed by one man. No
other photographer ever accomplished it. DR..
johnson was the literary wonder of his age.
Horace Walpole says of him: His dictionary is
a surprising work for one man, but sufficient eX-
amples III foreign countries show that the work
is too much for one man, and that a society alone
pretend to publish a standard dictionary. y
Webster's first dictionary was only a compila-
ton from standard authorities, with the addition
of purely American idioms and etymology, eX-
hibiting neither originality nor, research, being
adapted only to the use of schools-to the learn
ers. and not to the learned-and was
rejected as a standard by the British
institutions of learning on account
of the slang phrases, with only a local signiica-
ton, which it attempted to introduce into the
common English language. In regard to deriva-
tive words, which comprise so large "A share of
our language, the dictionary edited by Percival,
and published i'll the name of Noah Webster. is
now adopted as the highest standard authority
by all of the universities of Great Britain and
America. The great fortune of Noah Webster
in life, and his world wide fame as the greatest
photographer of any age, are based solely upon
the unrequited labor of James q. Percival, who
died in poverty in a miners cabin i'll western
Wisconsin, "unwept, unhonored and unsung."
The only remuneration which Percival ever
received for this unparalleled work was a bare
subsistence-which probably did not exceed 5000
a year-a place to live, and his necessary work
ing tools, books of reference. That he lived in
Il garnet, after the manner of the old poets, was
probably true Of his student days, but when he
undertook the work of the dictionary
his employers built him a study after
his own model. 1t was a small building.
without window or door facing any public
thoroughfare, lighted from the top-a sort Of
monkish cell, in which, surrounded by his books,
he could pursue his labors without attention
from idle curiosity. 1t was repOrted-with what
proof | cannot vouch-that this study and the
library which had been furnished him, when he
had finished tho work. were reclaimed by his en-
pl0yers, They were not nominated in the
i,ond "