Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-04-03

tionary, receiving as he wrote June 9,
1873. when fully employed on the die
tionary, S95 per month"; from about
May, 1927, till September. 1928, about
sixteen months. .sThe engagement
upon the dictionary terminated in the
early autumn of this year, 'says Ward s
Life 1T had been to him severely
laborious work; and though he separ-
ated from it before it was entirely fin
ished, owing to some misunderstanding
between himself and DIR. Webster, il
was welcome release"
This, however, was not the end of
Percivafs labors on Webster's diction-
airy. After DIR. Webster's death, he was
again employed on it by Professor
Goodrich, as the latter thus writes in
the editors preface to the revised edi-
ton of 1917: lit is obviously impos-
sible for any one mind to embrace with
accuracy all the various departments of
knowledge which are now brought
within the compass of dictionary.
Hence arise most of the errors and in
constituencies which abound in works of
this kind. To avoid these as far as pos
sible, the editor at first made an ar
rangement with Dr. James G. Percival,
who had rendered important assistance
to Dr. Webster in the edition of 1928, to
take the entire charge of revising the
scientific articles embraced in this work
Ihls revision, however, owing to causes
beyond the control of either party, was
extended to but little more than two
letters of the alphabet; and the editor
then obtained the assistance of his as
sociates in office, and of other gentle
men in various professional employ
ments. +" One of these causes, | believe
was that DIR. Percival's excessive appli-
cation, which has been already noticed
in speaking of his work on the first edi-
ton, made him sick. AT any rate, we
missed him for several weeks in the
summer of 1915, and then he became
pale and haggard, and said that he
must give up, and that somebody else
could probably do the work more salts
factorlly. The contract between him
aud Professor Goodrich was accordingly
Cancelled, as | understood at the time;
he ceased TO come to the room, and |
took his place in measure, examining
the scientific articles, comparing them
with the authorities at hand, perhaps
making the necessary corrections, but
preparing list of all these changes
and apparently needed changes, that
they might be finally settled in confer
ence by Professor Goodrich or myself
with the gentlemen in whose depart
ments or science or art they came.
One qualification should be made in res
pect to Professor j. d. Dana, who, as
stated in the preface by Professor
Goodrich, made a thorough revision OF
the whole dictionary in the departments
of geology and mineralogy, including
the part A, b and the beginning of O.
on which DR.. Percival labored in the
revision of 1S44-7.
1t appears therefore that Dr. Percival
laboreG about two years in all on Web
ster's dictionary, while DR.. Webster
himself devoted more than twenty
years to the labors connected with the
preparation of the work. 1t is certainly
evident that DR.. Percival was not the
sole author, compiler and editor of the
first edition of Webster's Unabridged
Dictionary. 1T would seem, also, that
the known fact that DIR. Webster added,
in his edition of 1928, $4,000 words and
between 10000 and 10000 definitions
to those in former dictionaries, and
spent ten years in ga comparison of
radical words, and in forming synop-
sis of the principal words in twenty
languages, arranged in classes under
their primary elements or letters" as
preparatory to the genealogical part OF
his dictionary, must have been some
how the basis of Mr.. Browns attribut-
ing to DR.. Percival mot only the def
nitions, but the root and history of ovel
10000 words derived from other Ian.
guages, including all the written Ian.
gaages of the world-thirty in number
of every one of which he must have
had some critical knowledge"
DIR. Percival was learned man as
well as poet, exceedingly careful in al
his investigations, sensitive to his owl
rights and to the rights of others, con
scientious and scrupulously accurate il
all his statements. Such q story az
Hon. Beriah Brown has made respect
ing him is almost enough to call hin
out of his grave. A monument would
do him no good now. 1t is better honol
to give him due credit for what Ia,
did.