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1842 · ref. 309481 — New Haven: Published by the Author. Sold by Crocker & Brewster Boston etc. . Printed by B.L. Hamlen 1842. Second edition first octavo edition. Engraved portrait frontispiece to vol. I by Asher Brown Durand after Samuel F.B. Morse no printer's name given. lxxvi 938; 1004 pp. 2 vols. Large 8vo 10-1/2 x 6 7/8 inches; 269 x 174 mm. Contemporary speckled sheep contrasting morocco spine labels marbled endpapers marbled edges. Covers scuffed joints worn some light spotting to text some worming to vol. I not affecting text. Morse Samuel French B. Second edition first octavo edition. Engraved portrait frontispiece to vol. I by Asher Brown Durand after Samuel F.B. Morse no printer's name given. lxxvi 938; 1004 pp. 2 vols. Large 8vo 10-1/2 x 6 7/8 inches; 269 x 174 mm. A fine copy of the rare octavo edition of Webster's unabridged dictionary the last that Webster published before his death in 1843. This is the textually best edition published in Webster's lifetime incorporating his final revisions some 5000 new definitions and a preface and introduction "on the origin history and connection of the languages of western Asia and Europe with an explanation of the principles on which languages are formed." Skeel notes that 3000 copies of this edition were printed fewer than the 5 or 6 thousand that Webster wanted but more than the 2500 of the 1828 first edition. A prospectus Skeel 585 advertised the edition at $13 sheep and $14 calf gilt. The work was in the press for over a year; a note in Webster's hand on a copy in the Connecticut State Library states "First signature of this edition impressed Oct. 22 1839. Last sheet impressed January 30 1841 15 months & days." The edition sold slowly with nearly half of the run still in sheets at the time of Webster's death. An attractive copy bearing the ownership signatures of George W. Turner dated the year he bought the mansion and farm of Elmscourt now Elms Court in Natchez Mississippi. Skeel 586; cf. Grolier American 36; cf. PMM 291; cf. Sabin 102335. Provenance: George W. Turner of Elmscourt or Elms Court Natchez Mississippi inscription in both volumes dated 1842 Published by the Author. Sold by Crocker & Brewster, Boston, [etc.] ... Printed by B.L. Hamlen unknown