The San Francisco call., 1909-10-13
OLD WEBSTER
MUCH IMPROVED
New Edition Supplants Most
Famous. Dictionary of
English Language

TO review a dictionary; to sum with
in the rigid confines of a newspaper
column the features of the most stu
pendous thesaurus of intelligence ever
compiled by human effort; to attempt
even the most inadequate description
of an achievement wrought through
years of labor by a score of the worlds
most eminent scholars. What task
to be allotted one! What result to
be compassed in an hourl
Yet this is the demand made by the
arrival of first copy of Webster's New
International Dictionary. the twentieth
compendiums of the English language.
The new dictionary. under publishers
date of 1910. is at hand. 1t is the
younger brother of the old I'm
abridged" and the later "webster's IN
ternational,'' bearing a general family
resemblance and character to these
notables of former years, but more
lusty, more modern. more precocious.
mayhap, than either of them were in
their infancy.
Yes. it is precocious. for in some re-
spects it is revolutionary. 1t is almost
twin in binding, size and general
makeup of the old International of
1890, but even the most cursory inspec-
tion startles one with glimpse of
radical changes and innovations. Chief
among the physical differences is the
amount of matter the new dictionary
contains. Where the old international
found room for a vocabulary of ap-
proximately 175, 200 title words. the new
book has compressed within it's 2,700
pages a total of more than 100000
words and phrases with their defini-
tions. together with 5000 illustrations.
1t is the product of the G. & C. Merriam
company OF Springfield, Mass.
The compilation of the new diction-
airy has been under the general edi-
former United States commissioner of
education, who was editor in chief of
the International supplement of 1900
and who is scholar and metaphysician
of the highest rank. With him have
been associated more than 20 depart
mental editors, chosen from among men
of the highest standing in their partic-
ular spheres.
A new arrangement of the vocabulary
gives one, at first inspection of the
book, feeling of strangeness. Several
of the special vocabularies formerly
treated separately under the general
headings of foreign names, scripture
/
been eliminated and their contents in
cluded in the general vocabulary, so
that each page contains all the titles
that fall alphabetically between the
first and last title words with the ex-
ception of biographical and geograph-
ical names. Moreover. the pages are
divided into an upper and lower Sec
tion, in the former of which are in
cluded all words of general usage and
Importance, while foreign phrases, alb
breviations, obsolete words, scientific
terms of rare occurrence, dialect and
words of most infrequeht use are rele-
gated TO the lower section. The upper
half is printed in the old style Of nom
pareil type. but the lower is dressed in
fine pearl type. The novelty is discon-
certing at first. yet familiarity with the
new feature should make the change
most handy and acceptable.
Slang has at last come into it's own
in this new dictionary. The book is
intended as a guide and teacher fpr
every student, be he school child.
newspaper reader scientific investi-
gator or the most erudite savant. The
keynote of the work is genuine utility.
So the editors have bowed to the ac-
ceptance of slang and colloquialisms
accorded by general usage and have
incorporated words and phrases of
such origin in the text Rough house
is given as exact a definition as the
most technical scientific word. One
learns that graft is. colloquially,
"a snap"
Websterian traditions have been re-
tanned in the policy adopted toward
spelling and pronunciation. Sim
plicity is given the preference where
two forms of spelling are about equally
divided in current usage. "Theaterr
is more acceptable than theatre"
program preferable to programme"
travelled takes preference over
travelled wagon over Wagon"
But spelling reforms have been treated
gingerly and the recommendations of
the board of spelling reform accorded
scant courtesy. The preface explains
that general acceptance of such in
novations is too much a matter of
doubt.
More than being a mere dictionary.
the New International is encyclopedia;
it is Titanic. complete and modern-a
publication that promises to become
necessity in every literary workshop
of the English speaking world. Only
one criticism suggests itself on the
spur of the moment. and that is one
that would not appeal, possibly, outside