A school dictionary, being a compendium of the latest and most improved dictionaries. Comprising an easy and concise method of teaching children the true meaning and pronunciation of the most useful words in the English language, not attainable by common school books: in which the parts of speech are distinguished and explained, and a general rule is given for spelling derivative, and compound words

New Haven: printed and sold by Edward O'Brien, who holds the copy-right for the states of Connecticut and New-York, 1797. First and only edition of the first English dictionary compiled by an American, and a noted American rarity. 32mo (4 7/8" tall), pp. 198; contemporary marbled boards neatly rebacked in modern calf, red morocco label on spine. With the early ownership signature on the verso of the title-p. of Betsy Norton, 1798 (possibly Elizabeth Cranch Norton, niece of Abagail Adams and part of the extended family of John Adams -- this based on a comparison of the handwriting in a 48-p. journal of Miss Norton's once owned by us). While the book is undated, an advertisement for it appeared in the November 8, 1798 issue of the Connecticut Journal recommending the book, and with a testimonial signed by a number of notables, including Noah Webster. A portion of this advertisement, which includes the recommendation of Noah Webster, is affixed to the verso of the title page. Dated 1796 by Evans; however, probably not issued before 1797, as O'Brien was a member of the firm of Tiebout & O'Brien until April 5, 1797. Sometime in 1798 he removed to St. John, New Brunswick. The dictionary includes approximately 4100 words in a single column. The ironically named Samuel Johnson, Jr., according to Burkett, was the great grand-nephew of the learned Dr. Samuel Johnson (not THE Samuel Johnson), the first President of King's College. He was born on March 10, 1757, and attended Yale. He died in 1836. He passed his life mostly as a teacher of grammar and geography in Guilford, Connecticut. One of his pupils was Fitz-Greene Halleck, the poet. Burkett claims only 4 copies are known (British Library, Yale, Harvard, and Library of Congress), but OCLC locates only 3: Trinity College, Yale ("nibbled edges, and with 24 pages missing" according to Burkett), and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. ESTC adds the Library of Congress (also defective). The American Antiquarian Society has a microfilm copy only. Not in the Cordell Collection. See Burkett, American Dictionaries of the English Language before 1861, pp. 8-16. Evans 30640 (misdating the book as 1796 and locating only the BL (a ghost?) and Yale copies).