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The Story of Webster's Third: Philip Gove's Controversial Dictionary and its Critics

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If you're one of those people who consider a well done dictionary to be good early-morning reading material (and really, who isn't?) then this book is for you. Seriously, the Merriam-Webster Third Edition created a huge controversy when it was first released in 1961, being the first major U.S. dicitonary that took a mainly DESRIPTIVE rather than PRESCIPTIVE approach to the english language. Never mind that European dicionaries had been doing much the same for a hundred years or more, to many Americans this was heresy. The ripples from this storm are still bouncing about today. Too bad that Philip Gove, the editor and virtual godfather of the Third, was such a poor defender of it. Also too bad he didn't live long enough to see his editorial philosophy largely vindicated. Morton gives equal attention to Philip Gove, the dictionary itself, and the G. & C. Merriam Company. The historical section on Noah Webster and his dictionary, how it was acquired by the Merriam brothers, and the subsequent history of the company is most informative and fascinating. So is the discussion at the end of the lasting effects of Webster's Third. As it should be with any book about dictionaries, the material is well-organized, with everything clearly and logically laid out. A good read, and a must for lexiphiles.

Philip Gove spent his career producing this magnum opus. Morton traces the work and the explosion that occurred when the dictionary was published. It's the American version of "The Professor and the Madman".