The Story of Webster's Third: Philip Gove's Controversial Dictionary and Its Critics Hardcover - 1994
by Herbert C. Morton
From the rear cover
The publication of Webster's Third New International Dictionary in 1961 set off a storm of controversy both in the popular press and in scholarly journals that was virtually unprecedented in its scope and intensity. The New York Times ridiculed the new dictionary's alleged failure to label slang in a now-famous editorial that began, "A passel of double-domes at the G. & C. Merriam Company joint in Springfield, Mass., have been confabbing and yakking for twenty-seven years...and now they have finalized...a new edition of a swell and esteemed book". The attack was joined by Life magazine, the Saturday Review, the Atlantic, the New Yorker, and other magazines and newspapers across the country. Critics charged that Webster's Third had abandoned its responsibility to uphold standards of good English and that it would encourage permissiveness in the teaching of English. Rejoinders by the dictionary's editor, Philip Babcock Gove, and sympathetic journalists and scholars had little effect. Herbert Morton tells the story from the beginning, drawing on new sources: Gove's papers, the files of the publisher, and interviews with former staff members and participants in the controversy. He describes how the Third Edition was planned and put together by Gove, where it went astray, and how it was misunderstood and misinterpreted by its detractors. Later assessments showed that its flaws were exaggerated. It has come to be regarded by virtually all language experts as one of the great dictionaries of our time. This is a very human story as well as the first full account of an extraordinary episode in the annals of lexicography. The issues it brought to the fore are still alive and will be of interestto all those fascinated by the English language and by how it is recorded in our dictionaries.
Details
- Title The Story of Webster's Third: Philip Gove's Controversial Dictionary and Its Critics
- Author Herbert C. Morton
- Binding Hardcover
- Edition First Published
- Pages 358
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
- Date 1994-08-26
- ISBN 9780521461467 / 0521461464
- Weight 1.47 lbs (0.67 kg)
- Dimensions 9.28 x 6.37 x 0.98 in (23.57 x 16.18 x 2.49 cm)
- Library of Congress subjects Encyclopedias and dictionaries - History and, English language - Lexicography - History -
- Library of Congress Catalog Number 94005056
- Dewey Decimal Code 423
More Copies for Sale
The Story of Webster's Third: Philip Gove's Controversial Dictionary and its Critics
by Morton, Herbert C.
- Used
- very good
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780521461467 / 0521461464
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Simi Valley, California, United States
- Item Price
-
$8.62$3.99 shipping to USA
Show Details
The Story of Webster's Third : Philip Gove's Controversial Dictionary and Its Critics
by Morton, Herbert C
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780521461467 / 0521461464
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
- Item Price
-
$13.95FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
The Story of Webster's Third: Philip Gove's Controversial Dictionary and its Critics
by Herbert C. Morton
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used: Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780521461467 / 0521461464
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
HOUSTON, Texas, United States
- Item Price
-
$16.69FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
The Story of Webster's Third : Philip Gove's Controversial Dictionary and Its Critics
by Morton, Herbert C
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Very Good
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780521461467 / 0521461464
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Dunfermline, Fife, United Kingdom
- Item Price
-
$19.31$10.00 shipping to USA
Show Details
The Story of Webster's Third: Philip Gove's Controversial Dictionary and its Critics
by Herbert C. Morton
- New
- Hardcover
- Condition
- New
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780521461467 / 0521461464
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom
- Item Price
-
$72.54$12.56 shipping to USA
Show Details
THE STORY OF WEBSTER*S THIRD - PHILIP GOVE*S CONTROVERSIAL DICTIONARY AND ITS CRITICS
by MORTON, HERBERT C.,
- New
- Condition
- New
- Edition
- N/A
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780521461467 / 0521461464
- Quantity Available
- 2
- Seller
-
New Delhi, India
- Item Price
-
$63.00$10.00 shipping to USA
Show Details
The Story of Webster's Third: Philip Gove's Controversial Dictionary and its Critics
by Herbert C. Morton
- New
- Hardcover
- Condition
- New
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780521461467 / 0521461464
- Quantity Available
- 5
- Seller
-
Southport, Merseyside, United Kingdom
- Item Price
-
$79.23$12.50 shipping to USA
Show Details
The Story of Webster's Third
by Herbert C. Morton
- New
- Hardcover
- Condition
- New
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780521461467 / 0521461464
- Quantity Available
- 467
- Seller
-
Uxbridge, Greater London, United Kingdom
- Item Price
-
$91.17$10.04 shipping to USA
Show Details
The Story of Webster's Third: Philip Gove's Controversial Dictionary and its Critics
by Morton, Herbert C
- New
- Hardcover
- Condition
- New
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780521461467 / 0521461464
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
San Diego, California, United States
- Item Price
-
$80.38$5.45 shipping to USA
Show Details
The Story of Webster's Third
by Herbert C. Morton
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9780521461467 / 0521461464
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Woodside, New York, United States
- Item Price
-
$110.33$3.99 shipping to USA