Webster, Worcester and the Dictionary Wars, Part 1
Stuff You Missed in History Class
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The Battle for Webster's Dictionary
Joseph Emerson Worcester abridged Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language. Webster was so upset that he decided to sell the rights to the abridged version. After this dispute with Worcester, Webster seems to have become increasingly angry and unwell. We will be talking more about that next episode.
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The conflict between Noah Webster and Joseph Emerson Worcester, and their dictionaries came to be known as the Dictionary Wars. To set the scene, part one covers the biographies of the two men.
Research:
- "Joseph Emerson Worcester." Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1936. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/BT2310000221/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=28ed0fad. Accessed 13 June 2023.
- "Joseph Emerson Worcester." Oxford Reference. . . Date of access 13 Jun. 2023, https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803124726182
- Amherst College Library. “An Exhibit Commemorating the 250th Anniversary of Noah Webster’s Birth October 16, 1758.” Archives and Special Collections Department. https://www.amherst.edu/library/archives/exhibitions/webster
- Bartels, Paul S. "Webster, Noah." American Governance, edited by Stephen Schechter, et al., vol. 5, Macmillan Reference USA, 2016, pp. 291-293. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3629100736/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=3724fc61. Accessed 13 June 2023.
- Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Joseph Emerson Worcester". Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 Mar. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Emerson-Worcester. Accessed 13 June 2023.
- Cassedy, Tim. “’A Dictionary Which We Do Not Want’: Defining America against Noah Webster, 1783–1810.” The William and Mary Quarterly , Vol. 71, No. 2 (April 2014). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5309/willmaryquar.71.2.0229
- Cmiel, Kenneth. "Dictionaries." Dictionary of American History, edited by Stanley I. Kutler, 3rd ed., vol. 3, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003, pp. 22-23. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3401801214/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=b1842afb. Accessed 13 June 2023.
- Dobbs, Christopher. “Noah Webster and the Dream of a Common Language.” Connecticut History. 5/28/2021. https://connecticuthistory.org/noah-webster-and-the-dream-of-a-common-language/
- Garner, Bryan A. "Under an Orthographic Spell: Part I." National Review, vol. 75, no. 2, 6 Feb. 2023, p. 50. Gale OneFile: Business, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A734881576/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=705eb3a3. Accessed 13 June 2023.
- Garner, Bryan A. "Under an Orthographic Spell: Part II." National Review, vol. 75, no. 4, 6 Mar. 2023, p. 46. Gale OneFile: Business, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A737639557/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=59f8ff8f. Accessed 13 June 2023.
- McDavid, Raven I.. "Noah Webster". Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 May. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Noah-Webster-American-lexicographer. Accessed 14 June 2023.
- McHugh, Jess. “The Nationalist Roots of Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary.” The Paris Review. 3/30/2018. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/03/30/noah-websters-american-english/
- Merriam-Webster. “Noah Webster and America's First Dictionary.” https://www.merriam-webster.com/about-us/americas-first-dictionary
- Micklethwait, David. “Ghost-hunting?: The Search for Henry Bohn's First Worcester Dictionary.” Dictionaries: Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America, Volume 38, Issue 1, 2017, pp. 47-66. https://doi.org/10.1353/dic.2017.0001
- Noah Webster House and West Hartford Historical Society. “Noah Webster History.” https://noahwebsterhouse.org/noahwebsterhistory/
- Skinner, David. “Noah Webster, Chronicler of Disease.” HUMANITIES, Spring 2021, Volume 42, Number 2. https://www.neh.gov/article/noah-webster-chronicler-disease
- Yazawa, Melvin. “Webster, Noah.” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/68670
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