Joseph (Emerson) Worcester - Works

Lexicographer, born in Bedford, New Hampshire, USA. He worked on the family farm until he entered Phillips Academy at age 21, and then studied at Yale College (1811 BA). While teaching school he began the compilation of several gazetteers and textbooks in geography and history. In 1828 he published a revision of Samuel Johnson's famous Dictionary of the English Language, and the next year, under the direction of Noah Webster's son-in-law, Chauncey Goodrich, he edited an abridged version of Webster's American Dictionary of the English Language. On the heels of this work he published his own Comprehensive Pronouncing and Explanatory Dictionary of the English Language (1830), against which Webster levelled a charge of plagiarism, thus beginning an acrimonious rivalry known as the ‘dictionary wars’. His most important work is the Dictionary of the English Language (1860), which reflects traditional British style in contrast to Webster's recognition of American vocabulary, spelling, and usage.

He then taught school in Massachusetts for several years, during which time he produced several works on geography, including A Geographical Dictionary, or Universal Gazetteer, Ancient and Modern in 1817.

His first edited dictionary was an abridgment of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language, published in 1828, the same year Noah Webster's American Dictionary appeared. Having worked as an assistant on the production of Webster's dictionary, he produced an abridgment of Webster's work in 1829.

He published his own Comprehensive Pronouncing and Explanatory English Dictionary in 1830, inciting charges of plagiarism from Webster, to which Worcester protested that he had worked on his dictionary before working for Webster and had used his own research. He continued to revise his dictionary, producing A Universal and Critical Dictionary in 1846. When a British edition of the work stated that it was based on the work of Noah Webster, and omitted Worcester's introductory statement claiming otherwise, he responded with A Gross Literary Fraud Exposed.

His culminating work, A Dictionary of the English Language, published in 1860 was briefly the major American dictionary, until Merriam's new edition of Webster's American Dictionary appeared in 1864. Worcester's work was the first American dictionary to incorporate illustrations throughout the text, and to offer treatment of synonyms, a feature of most major dictionaries since.

Works

A Geographical Dictionary, or Universal Gazetteer, Ancient and Modern (1817, enlarged 1823) A Gazetteer of the United States (1818) Elements of Geography, Ancient and Modern (1819) Sketches of the Earth and its Inhabitants (1823) Elements of History, Ancient and Modern, accompanied by an Historical Atlas (1826) Epitome of History (reissue of above, 1827) Outlines of Scripture Geography (1828) Johnson's Dictionary, as improved by Todd and abridged by Chalmers, with Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary combined, to which is added Walker's Key (1828) A Comprehensive Pronouncing and Explanatory Dictionary of the English Language with Pronouncing Vocabularies (1830) A Universal and Critical Dictionary of the English Language (1846) A Gross Literary Fraud exposed; relating to the Publication of Worcester's Dictionary in London: Together with Three Appendixes; Merriam (1854) A Dictionary of the English Language (1860) An Elementary Dictionary for the Common Schools with Pronouncing Vovabularies of Classical Scripture and Modern Geographical Names An Elementary Dictionary of the English Language A Primary Dictionary of the English Language