# Is "An American Dictionary of the English Language" by Noah Webster a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of An American Dictionary of the English Language by Noah Webster (S. Converse, New York, 1828) is identified by: First edition, first printing: 'New York: Published by S. Census confirmed, with one refinement: the imprint is a split one and should be quoted in full — published by S.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- First edition, first printing: 'New York: Published by S. Converse,' printed by Hezekiah Howe of New Haven, 1828
- Two volumes, quarto, approx
- 290 x 235 mm (11 the printed price x 9 the printed price in.)
- Print run of only 2,500 copies
- Volume I carries an engraved frontispiece portrait of Webster by A. B. Durand after the painting by Samuel F. B. Morse, and an 80-page prefatory section containing Webster's introductory dissertation on the origin, history and connection of the languages of Western Asia and Europe
- Over 70,000 entries, of which some 12,000 words had not previously appeared in a dictionary
- Publisher imprint reads S. Converse, New York

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Noah Webster |
| Publisher | S. Converse, New York |
| Year | 1828 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | First edition, first printing: 'New York: Published by S. Converse,' printed by Hezekiah Howe of New Haven, 1828 |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
First edition, first printing: 'New York: Published by S. Converse,' printed by Hezekiah Howe of New Haven, 1828. Two volumes, quarto, approx. 290 x 235 mm (11 the printed price x 9 the printed price in.). Print run of only 2,500 copies. Volume I carries an engraved frontispiece portrait of Webster by A. B. Durand after the painting by Samuel F. B. Morse, and an 80-page prefatory section containing Webster's introductory dissertation on the origin, history and connection of the languages of Western Asia and Europe. Over 70,000 entries, of which some 12,000 words had not previously appeared in a dictionary. The point that decides a complete copy is the terminal leaf of 'Additions and Corrections' at the end of Volume II — it is not infrequently missing. A November 28 Advertisement leaf also belongs to the issue but is, per dealer cataloguing, 'nearly always' absent. Both volumes should carry the 1828 quarto title.

## Is this the true first?
Census confirmed, with one refinement: the imprint is a split one and should be quoted in full — published by S. Converse in New York, printed by Hezekiah Howe in New Haven, 1828. Cataloguing it as 'S. Converse, New York' alone is correct but incomplete, and the New Haven printing line on the title page is part of what identifies the sheets. There is no UK-versus-US precedence question: this is an American work first published in America. An 1830-32 London issue exists but follows the New York first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
CENSUS CONFIRMED that donors far more often hold later Merriam revisions. The chain: Webster issued a second edition in 1841 with his son William G. Webster, whose title page does not claim second-edition status but describes itself as the 'first edition in octavo' — the format change from the 1828 quarto to octavo is the quickest tell. After Webster's death on 28 May 1843, George and Charles Merriam bought the unsold stock, unbound sheets, electrotype plates and publishing rights to the 1841 edition from Webster's heirs, and issued their revised and enlarged edition on 24 September 1847, edited by Professor Chauncey A. Goodrich of Yale, Webster's son-in-law. Any copy bearing a Merriam or G. & C. Merriam imprint, or dated 1847 or later, is a revision and not the 1828 first, however imposing the binding. Facsimiles of the 1828 edition have also been reprinted in modern times and are marked as such.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *An American Dictionary of the English Language* by Noah Webster a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/an-american-dictionary-of-the-english-language
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.