Noah Webster publishes A Compendious Dictionary

Background. Noah Webster (October 16, 1758 – May 28, 1843) was an American lexicographer, textbook pioneer, English-language spelling reformer, political writer, editor, and author. In 1793, Alexander Hamilton recruited Webster to move to New York City and become an editor for a Federalist Party newspaper. John Algeo later observed that it is often assumed characteristically American spellings were invented by Webster, a point relevant to how his dictionary work is remembered.

Publication Details. A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language appeared in 1806. It was Webster's first dictionary, containing distinctive American spellings. The work is noted for its role in defining American English conventions, though some scholars debate the extent to which these spellings were invented by Webster versus assumed.

Legacy and Context. The 1806 dictionary is distinct from Webster's later work: the following year, in 1807, he began work on a more extensive dictionary, An American Dictionary of the English Language, which took twenty-six years to complete and was finally published in 1828. Austin's analysis of definitions from both the Compendious (1806) and American (1828) dictionaries engages the politics of American English, questions of national identity and culture in the early moments of American independence, and the poetics of citation and of definition.