New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-11-29
WORDS. WORDS, WoRDs!"


FUNK AND WAGNALLS NEW STAHID0oo
ARD DICTIONARY. one volume, 49,
pages. 1000 illustrations. Inc uhh
Wagnalls Company.
One of our many English visitors VINO
have written books about us-Mr' H. w.
Wells. if memory be not at fault-has
made the very true observation that IN
this country the dictionary is house
hold article. No happy home is com
plete without one, if it be only an
abridged edition. and next to the die
tionarv the national cultural ambition
aspires TO the possession of an encyclo-
padia Literature may be a but dimlE
perceived delight-the literature OF
power. that is: hut storohous OF It's
raw material. which is words. We must
have AT hand: and we cannot do with
out the storehouses of the literature Ga
knowledge that encyclopedias are.
There is more significance in this one
observation Of our English visitor than
in many page of abstruse social study
and criticism.
Time was when dictionaries were
compiled for the few. when lexicog-
raphers stood at the gate and scrut-
rized severely the credentials of every
word that applied for admittance. II II
had no academic antecedents, no liter
arv pedigree long and unimpeachable.
il was cast into utter darkness. There
was a period when England froWned
upon "Americanisms." but there came
day when these "hybrids' were proved
10 be Of good old stock feebly surviving
in isola ed neighbOrhoOds, as New Eng
land farms or. oftener still In the
lonely stretches Of the Tennessee
Mountains. photographers became
more tolerant, then went TO the other
extreme. From being exclusive, they
became all-inclusive The verbal pol
loi were welcomed with delight; they
were sought for in the highways and
hedges. Bulk became the measure Of a
dictionaries value and merits. SO here
we have the Funk & Wagnalls New
Dictionary. whose boast is that II
records and defines 10000 terms-at
least $1,000 more than any other die
tionary, irrespective Of size. These
figures are taken from critical re-
view" Of the work supplied by the pub
fishers. We accept them readily, for
we are further informed, this re-
view has been written by IAN eminent
educator from Missouri: and. as we al
ready knew before the New Standard
Dictionary gave standing to the state
ment in it's proper alphabetical place.
people from Missouri have to be
shown"
This dictionary has many merits TO
recommend tits capital lists Of
synonyms and antonyms. for instance,
with their accurate definitions Of
shades Of meaning. Its key to pro-
nunciations is simple and well placed
at the top of each page; it pays atten-
ton TO matters of proper diction. and
it even gives revised spellings so far
as the enthusiasts have gone. 1t en-
braces all the terms to which the mol
ern development Of the sciences and
their practical applications have givcr
birth. 1t also proves up to the hilt the
Englishman's statement that with u:
the dictionary is a household book by
giving the antidote for each poison
under the name of that poison itself
What is still more. DR.. Harvey w
Wiley has given his invaluable assist
ance in the matter Of pure and impur
food words. IL follows as matter o
e course that there are diagrams OF III
, Chicago and the English style" Of cut
I ting up a beef, but why, oh why, has m
diagram been furnished of the prope
way to carve a fowl? The omission
was widely felt and regretted las
Thursday. Speaking of the illustra
lions, they really do illustrate; and oc