New-York tribune., 1906-08-06
What ~ y. Booksellers Say 6bey
Are Telling Most.

"a wIleo on me that the act with intent!
md moreover. that this claimed reversion to old
spellng was not broached yesterday. DR.. Johnson.
gave the VOID os tne claim for rme
the manner Of writing it should depend on the
exam from eight POETS Of whom two-spenser
the Tb1e bT fb the & word both with and without
IN P2,or -Hpdi6ras'R M bras Denham, Dryden Young. and
skeat has carried his research much further back
SaE SsaH the time Of spenser but Il may be submitted
spelling and phrasing have in a great measure
sTa By 4Re te se1erav aTs nG only N h h dGgy
II may also be said that until the day OF Johnson
that it mainly his labor that gave it precision
decision '--1 ''"''OS a. nus
AS for the shakespearian Illustration the
editor of Notes and Queries" points out that
the insertion Of the n in the case OF Shake
speare is the work OF modern editors. In the
First Folio it is generally-we believe invaria-
bly-omitted." Referring to the question of ORR
gin. the root and history of words as shown by
spelling, the old reader further relieves his mind:
The argument against the III appears to be that
. rs the property OF the word rhythm, and that
/ rhyme and rhythm have relationship, one com
the And et thefe be 6o oe rmds oSaf
sympathetic connection. Nor does the argument of
distinction OF likely to keep its p0stjon
for the professor has shown the latest belief to be
Is ultimately Of Greek origin" Should this be So
the motive for the change will apparent; il
might be a phonetic benefit. hut is it advisable
should
eral of one syllable readily occur e G. fine mine
rail- rearl and that r@e should RencefoPt aneer noa
equally for the hoar-frost and the Jingle Of vrses2
This question of words recalls the fact that
I the latest volume (the seventy of the New
English Dictionary Historical Principles" is
full OF interesting things It is worth noting
that Of the words beginning with "ph" the most
extensive group is made up of the compounds
Of photo These compounds actually occupy
fifteen columns and are 24O in number All of
these except six are consequent upon the intro
duction of photography in 1899 Sir John Her
schel was. in that year, the earliest user Of the
word photography" AS for other words begin
ming with PHI Shelley was the first to use
"phantasmal' and Coleridge in 1925 appears to
have introduced phenomenal though Bacon
had used phenomena
Other words beginning with the letter p
have much that is entertaining in their history
II is to be rememb bered that Steele is the first
authority for picturesque -'Pidgin'' pigeon
English" is derived from the word "bigeon,"
Chinese effort to pronounce business" II is
curious TO find in reference to a word so familiar
as pie" (the dish) that except in Gaelic re-
lated word is known outside English. In 1902
il was a popular word. OF piece" it is said
that the ulterior orr. IN Is obscure and that the
arrangement adopted is TO a great extent pro-
visioual In 1he case of pierce, as in that OF
piece" the Interior origin is declared uncertain.
''Piety'' is an early form Of pity" Pig" is one
OF the words in common use but of obscure
origin, with which this portion OF the work
abounds "Pig1ney" as an endearing dininutive
probably arose from the fond prattle Of nurses.
First editions of Coopers novels are held at
S32 for the set in England
Il is good news that Mr., Howells is going TO
publish q companion volume to his London
Films" In this, which viii be brought out
before very long. under the title of Certain
Delightful English Towns" he discourses on
such inspiring places Exeter Bath, Wells.
Canterbury. oxford, Bristol and Chester. We
know how he will talk about them, gracefully,
lightly. illuminativey and with many little per-
sonaI and humorous touches. and We look for
ward 10 the pleasure of reading the book 1t
will no doubt be fully illustrated.