A Book of Note
Posted 12-05-2014 at 07:21 PM by Happy in Wyoming
Updated 01-29-2015 at 01:36 AM by Happy in Wyoming
Updated 01-29-2015 at 01:36 AM by Happy in Wyoming
When I began second grade one of the books we received was the Thorndike Barnhart Dictionary; it was and still is an excellent beginner's dictionary. However, I soon discovered my aunt's immense dictionary. I went there with my mother every Saturday as my grandmother had the upper apartment; the two combined formed the family gathering place. I had plenty of free time there to browse and explore. The huge dictionary opened my eyes to the world; it had everything. There was a perpetual calendar; there was a table of consanguinity covering canon, civil, and common law; there were drawings of chemical apparatus and all sorts of other wonderful things. There were also words, so many words; I lost myself in them. The dictionary was so thick it required handbinding. When Merriam-Webster published the third edition in 1961 they added many technical and scientific terms but removed more than a hundred thousand words to shrink the dictionary to a size that allowed machine binding.
I let everyone in the family know how much I loved this book. The next Christmas when I was in third grade my eldest aunt gave it to me for Christmas. I was astounded. I knew that it cost as much as some people earned in a week. It was one of the outstanding Christmas gifts of my life.
My parents wished me to have the best education possible; they were willing to pay for it. The best private universities of the time were far less expensive than today, but they weren't cheap. I attended a private high school where they did teach to the SAT and where we probably received the best secondary education in Chicago. However, I was the only student to score 800 on the SAT verbal. That may very possibly have given me an edge in winning a General Motors scholarship: full tuition, housing, and books at the university of my choice. The dictionary likely made that SAT score possible.
I know that OED II is magnificent; I have one. However, it's twenty volumes; I can sit in a big chair with the Merriam-Wester Second nestled in my lap and lose myself for hours. It's not a gift for everyone, but for the right boy or girl it's the gift that truly gives for a lifetime.
WEBSTER'S NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY SECOND EDITION UNABRIDGED: G&C Merriam Company: Amazon.com: Books
I let everyone in the family know how much I loved this book. The next Christmas when I was in third grade my eldest aunt gave it to me for Christmas. I was astounded. I knew that it cost as much as some people earned in a week. It was one of the outstanding Christmas gifts of my life.
My parents wished me to have the best education possible; they were willing to pay for it. The best private universities of the time were far less expensive than today, but they weren't cheap. I attended a private high school where they did teach to the SAT and where we probably received the best secondary education in Chicago. However, I was the only student to score 800 on the SAT verbal. That may very possibly have given me an edge in winning a General Motors scholarship: full tuition, housing, and books at the university of my choice. The dictionary likely made that SAT score possible.
I know that OED II is magnificent; I have one. However, it's twenty volumes; I can sit in a big chair with the Merriam-Wester Second nestled in my lap and lose myself for hours. It's not a gift for everyone, but for the right boy or girl it's the gift that truly gives for a lifetime.
WEBSTER'S NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY SECOND EDITION UNABRIDGED: G&C Merriam Company: Amazon.com: Books
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