Some years ago, while I was finishing up my undergraduate degree in order to get into graduate school, and then for a while in graduate school, as well; my absolutely necessary down time mostly consisted of reading Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe novels. The advantages were few but obvious. Stout could string sentences together nicely. His characters were charming. And Stout’s forty-eight forays into Nero Wolfe’s life and adventures were rarely complicated with new plots. Perfect for my purposes…
One evening I opened my latest Wolfe to come upon a scene where his trusty assistant Archie walks into Wolfe’s study only to witness the master tearing pages out of his new Merriam-Webster’s dictionary and throwing the offending sheets into the fireplace. The novel must have been published a little after 1961 when Merriam-Webster published its controversial “Third International” edition. The new Third was controversial for many reasons, including its massive deletion of archaic words. Hence Wolfe’s ire…
This struck a major chord for me.
As readers of this blog might recall my formal education was spotty, due largely to my family’s peregrinations during my childhood.
One reason I was able to escape the rounds of poverty my place among our culture’s underclasses pretty much assured was undoubtedly due to Merriam-Webster. From a very, very early age I recall gong to the library and walking up to the stand that, wherever we were, held their copy of Merriam-Webster. I would look up a word. That would lead to another. That would lead to another. I knew my time at the dictionary was done when I found myself at the narwhal listing. I would savor the picture. Then move on. (Sadly, I couldn’t find an online version of that engraving for this posting…)
I started early enough in this enterprise that my first experiences were with the Second. But this project continued for years and I suspect I didn’t even notice the shift to the new edition.
The dictionary itself traces a direct line to Noah Webster. At his death the Merriam brothers purchased the existing stock and rights to revise and reprint.
Today, as it turns out, is the 151st anniversary of the first revision published by the Merriam brother’s dictionary company, which began the course that would lead to it dominating the field for generations to come.
And giving me that important helping hand…
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