A grammatical institute of the English language. Comprising an easy, concise, and systematic method of education, designed for the use of English ... The third edition, revised and amended.

by Noah Webster

The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.
Western literary study flows out of eighteenth-century works by Alexander Pope, Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Frances Burney, Denis Diderot, Johann Gottfried Herder, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and others. Experience the birth of the modern novel, or compare the development of language using dictionaries and grammar discourses.
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British Library

W020403

Error in p. 122 misnumbered 222.

Philadelphia : Printed and sold by Young and M'Culloch, the corner of Chesnut and Second-Streets, M.DCC.LXXX.VII. [1787]. 132p. ; 12°

142 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2008

About the author

Noah Webster, Jr. (October 16, 1758 – May 28, 1843), was a lexicographer, textbook pioneer, English-language spelling reformer, political writer, editor, and prolific author. He has been called the "Father of American Scholarship and Education". His blue-backed speller books taught five generations of American children how to spell and read, secularizing their education. According to Ellis (1979) he gave Americans "a secular catechism to the nation-state".

Webster's name has become synonymous with "dictionary" in the United States, especially the modern Merriam-Webster dictionary that was first published in 1828 as An American Dictionary of the English Language. He is considered one of the Founding Fathers of the nation.

Reviews

[Brent Woo · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you need to know what Noah Webster is all about, just read the intro to this "Institute". He lays out all his strong opinions that the British "neglect" their own language with "ridiculous practices", on the proper way to teach children to read, and how all other existing dictionaries fall short. It is interesting to see the supposed progression here: apparently schoolkids are supposed to know words like "effulgence" and "testatrix" by page 40 in order to figure out syllables. The list of cities and populations is funny. This would probably be a fun piece to read next to other dictionary essays like "Authority and American Usage" in Consider the Lobster and Other Essays.

Also it preſents an occaſion for the modern reader to practice reading ſome long S and catchwords!