Hey everyone! Today I'm going to explain the nutty history about so many dictionary makers claiming to be the real "Webster" (and why they started doing it in the first place).
Webster's Long History of Lexicography
Noah Webster's first dictionaries were extremely detailed, and that boosted his line of dictionaries to fame. His first dictionary, A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language, marked the beginning of his legacy. In it, Webster changed a bunch of conventions from British English that are today preserved in American English spelling (no "u" in "colour," switch "e" and "r" in "centre," "theatre," etc.). These modifications characterized American English and helped to standardize written language in education, for literature, and elsewhere.
Webster decided that he wouldn't stop there. He revised the Compendious dictionary and released An American Dictionary of the English Language (ADEL) in 1828. It contained 70,000 entries, a significant improvement from the maximum of 58,000 entries reached by previous dictionaries. It originally cost $20 ($490.03 in 2015), which (not surprisingly) contributed to its slow start. However, the price was lowered to $15 ($367.52 today), and it became very popular.
Webster then moved on to publish a second edition of the ADEL in 1841, which was also a commercial success. Three printings were run between 1841 and 1845. The 1845 (third) printing was by George and Charles Merriam in Springfield, Massachusetts. This printing was the first time the dictionaries were officially given the "Webster's" name.
Despite his success in lexicography, his political views often hindered the selling of his dictionaries. In his innovative effort to compile dictionaries that represented the entire body of language in American English, Federalists shunned Webster's works for being too inclusive of English vocabulary at the time. But, as Webster's publications reached more people, politics no longer mattered, and his dictionaries became a standard.
After Webster died in 1843, George and Charles Merriam bought the rights to the dictionaries and the "Webster" name, and began releasing dictionaries under that name. Webster's son-in-law, C.A. Goodrich, a Yale professor, was asked to take over revisions. With expert guidance, the Webster dictionaries flourished.
Soon, the Merriam brothers found themselves facing a rival. Webster's former assistant, John Worcester, decided to create his own dictionary. A Dictionary of the English Language was released in 1860, and the brothers Merriam needed to fire back. They did so with their own A Dictionary of the English Language in 1864, and the late 1800's brought some of the most comprehensive dictionaries of their time.
The G. and C. Merriam Company expanded the American dictionary and released Webster's International Dictionary in 1890, and it contained 175,000 entries. After a follow-up supplement appending around 25,000 entries, Webster's name truly rose to fame. Webster's New International and the respective Second Edition (nicknamed "W2") became encyclopedic tomes, reaching beyond just language itself, but including images of flags, wildlife, human inventions, architecture, and more.
The Fakes
It was around this time that other lexicographers decided to exploit the "Webster" name and slap it on their dictionaries. With such a great image already established with the name, and everyone rushed to freeload on Webster's (and the Merriams's) successes. The G. and C. Merriam Company fought back with a slew of civil lawsuits against many who were "stealing" the name.
G. & C. Merriam Co. v. Ogilvie was one such case in which Merriam-Webster (henceforth "M-W") was trying to protect the violation of Webster's legacy of dedicated lexicography. A man named George W. Ogilvie had started publishing his own dictionaries under the name "Webster," and M-W was not digging it. In response, they filed a lawsuit against Ogilvie and G. & C. Merriam Co. v. Ogilvie was born.
The Merriam brothers claimed the right to the Webster name, and the name (they said) should, therefore, be reserved to them. However, Ogilvie claimed that the name had become public domain (public property) and that they had the right to use it. In the case files that I found online, the Merriam brothers clearly had lost the exclusive right to use the name: anyone could use it because the Merriam brothers' rights passed with Noah Webster.
One of the G. & C. Merriam Co. v. Ogilvie files says the following:
Merriam-Webster (it was not actually called "Merriam-Webster" back then) had lost the luxury of being the only Webster dictionary publishers, and it would be possible for customers to be misled.
The string of lawsuits that G. and C. Merriam initiated ended up revealing that they no longer had the rights to the Webster name. As a result, everyone pounced on the opportunity to get the name on their dictionaries. The wave of fake Webster's dictionaries continues today, as I saw at a recent trip to my local bookstore.
As a result of the frenzy of lawsuits and the new risk of having customers getting redirected away from their publications, Merriam-Webster started putting a statement in their dictionaries as a sort of guarantee certificate that the dictionary you are looking at is a genuine M-W dictionary.
If you're not sure whether a dictionary is M-W or not, check for these things (some might be present on a dictionary, others might not):
1) The guarantee message shown above.
2) The Merriam-Webster logo.
3) The name "Merriam-Webster" (not just "Webster") on more recent publications only. If it's too old, it won't have "Merriam-Webster" because G. and C. Merriam hadn't changed the dictionary name yet.
4) The publishing company is G. and C. Merriam Company or Merriam-Webster Inc. (renamed in 1982). This is a pretty good way of being able to tell.
5) Noah Webster's portrait in the front few pages!! (This is sometimes present in earlier publications.)
Something I want to note: I'm not rejecting or demoting any other dictionary makers or lexicographers. I'm also not saying you should only use Merriam-Webster. Some swear by the OED (Oxford English Dictionary, one of the editions of which is absolutely gigantic) or by American Heritage (read about them in my previous post). And there are plenty of trusty lexicographers and great sources everywhere.
This is just me writing about the dictionaries because I think the history is pretty fascinating. :)
So, there you have it. Hope you enjoyed this post, and check back later for more!
Webster's Long History of Lexicography
Noah Webster's first dictionaries were extremely detailed, and that boosted his line of dictionaries to fame. His first dictionary, A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language, marked the beginning of his legacy. In it, Webster changed a bunch of conventions from British English that are today preserved in American English spelling (no "u" in "colour," switch "e" and "r" in "centre," "theatre," etc.). These modifications characterized American English and helped to standardize written language in education, for literature, and elsewhere.
Webster decided that he wouldn't stop there. He revised the Compendious dictionary and released An American Dictionary of the English Language (ADEL) in 1828. It contained 70,000 entries, a significant improvement from the maximum of 58,000 entries reached by previous dictionaries. It originally cost $20 ($490.03 in 2015), which (not surprisingly) contributed to its slow start. However, the price was lowered to $15 ($367.52 today), and it became very popular.
Webster then moved on to publish a second edition of the ADEL in 1841, which was also a commercial success. Three printings were run between 1841 and 1845. The 1845 (third) printing was by George and Charles Merriam in Springfield, Massachusetts. This printing was the first time the dictionaries were officially given the "Webster's" name.
Despite his success in lexicography, his political views often hindered the selling of his dictionaries. In his innovative effort to compile dictionaries that represented the entire body of language in American English, Federalists shunned Webster's works for being too inclusive of English vocabulary at the time. But, as Webster's publications reached more people, politics no longer mattered, and his dictionaries became a standard.
After Webster died in 1843, George and Charles Merriam bought the rights to the dictionaries and the "Webster" name, and began releasing dictionaries under that name. Webster's son-in-law, C.A. Goodrich, a Yale professor, was asked to take over revisions. With expert guidance, the Webster dictionaries flourished.
Soon, the Merriam brothers found themselves facing a rival. Webster's former assistant, John Worcester, decided to create his own dictionary. A Dictionary of the English Language was released in 1860, and the brothers Merriam needed to fire back. They did so with their own A Dictionary of the English Language in 1864, and the late 1800's brought some of the most comprehensive dictionaries of their time.
The G. and C. Merriam Company expanded the American dictionary and released Webster's International Dictionary in 1890, and it contained 175,000 entries. After a follow-up supplement appending around 25,000 entries, Webster's name truly rose to fame. Webster's New International and the respective Second Edition (nicknamed "W2") became encyclopedic tomes, reaching beyond just language itself, but including images of flags, wildlife, human inventions, architecture, and more.
The Fakes
It was around this time that other lexicographers decided to exploit the "Webster" name and slap it on their dictionaries. With such a great image already established with the name, and everyone rushed to freeload on Webster's (and the Merriams's) successes. The G. and C. Merriam Company fought back with a slew of civil lawsuits against many who were "stealing" the name.
G. & C. Merriam Co. v. Ogilvie was one such case in which Merriam-Webster (henceforth "M-W") was trying to protect the violation of Webster's legacy of dedicated lexicography. A man named George W. Ogilvie had started publishing his own dictionaries under the name "Webster," and M-W was not digging it. In response, they filed a lawsuit against Ogilvie and G. & C. Merriam Co. v. Ogilvie was born.
The Merriam brothers claimed the right to the Webster name, and the name (they said) should, therefore, be reserved to them. However, Ogilvie claimed that the name had become public domain (public property) and that they had the right to use it. In the case files that I found online, the Merriam brothers clearly had lost the exclusive right to use the name: anyone could use it because the Merriam brothers' rights passed with Noah Webster.
One of the G. & C. Merriam Co. v. Ogilvie files says the following:
 |
| **NOTE: When I went to look up the definition of "enjoin" (line 2), the colloquial definition is to urge someone to do something, but in a legal context, it means to prohibit someone from doing something... strange! |
The string of lawsuits that G. and C. Merriam initiated ended up revealing that they no longer had the rights to the Webster name. As a result, everyone pounced on the opportunity to get the name on their dictionaries. The wave of fake Webster's dictionaries continues today, as I saw at a recent trip to my local bookstore.
 |
| Here's one of the many dictionaries I saw (I didn't put all the pictures I took) that claim to be genuine "Webster's" dictionaries (published by those who published Noah Webster's revolutionary work). |
 |
| Well, this isn't even really a true "Webster's" dictionary. Take a look at the publisher. |
 |
| This one was published by Houghton Mifflin! They are the publishers of the American Heritage dictionaries! No way that a competitor to Merriam-Webster would publish two rivaling lines of dictionaries. |
 |
| Apart from being the shortest "Webster's" dictionary I have ever seen, the dictionary's paper had the coarsest grains I have ever felt. The definitions were pretty clear, but it's definitely not the real "Webster's." |
 |
| Not G. and C. Merriam Company or Merriam-Webster, Inc. |
 |
| I actually used to see a lot of these around school, so they must be pretty good. I don't look for these in particular (I have only one, from 1980), but those are not Merriam-Webster. Sorry most of the name is covered by the label. |
 |
| Again, not the right publisher. |
As a result of the frenzy of lawsuits and the new risk of having customers getting redirected away from their publications, Merriam-Webster started putting a statement in their dictionaries as a sort of guarantee certificate that the dictionary you are looking at is a genuine M-W dictionary.
If you're not sure whether a dictionary is M-W or not, check for these things (some might be present on a dictionary, others might not):
1) The guarantee message shown above.
2) The Merriam-Webster logo.
 |
| This is the most recent edition of their Collegiate Dictionary. It should say "Merriam-Webster" if it's recent enough. Really, you can just check the publisher. |
3) The name "Merriam-Webster" (not just "Webster") on more recent publications only. If it's too old, it won't have "Merriam-Webster" because G. and C. Merriam hadn't changed the dictionary name yet.
4) The publishing company is G. and C. Merriam Company or Merriam-Webster Inc. (renamed in 1982). This is a pretty good way of being able to tell.
5) Noah Webster's portrait in the front few pages!! (This is sometimes present in earlier publications.)
 |
| This is from W2. |
Something I want to note: I'm not rejecting or demoting any other dictionary makers or lexicographers. I'm also not saying you should only use Merriam-Webster. Some swear by the OED (Oxford English Dictionary, one of the editions of which is absolutely gigantic) or by American Heritage (read about them in my previous post). And there are plenty of trusty lexicographers and great sources everywhere.
This is just me writing about the dictionaries because I think the history is pretty fascinating. :)
So, there you have it. Hope you enjoyed this post, and check back later for more!
No comments:
Post a Comment