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(More customer reviews)In the 1940s I attended a country school with a single teacher and 20 kids ranging from first to eighth grade. During the last four years, I was the only kid in my "class" and was permitted (encouraged?) to do a great deal of independent reading.
Once a week the county superintendent would send around a circulating box of books, and I would often read and report on ten to twenty books a week. These reports were sent to Jefferson, the county seat, and if the superintendent approved, he would send back a certificate with a gold star for each book read, a total of 12 to each certificate. During my most productive year, I read and reported on 365 books, and received 30 certificates filled with stars, and a letter of commendation containing the five extra stars.
My teacher had me sit right next to the "New International Dictionary", which contained over three thousand pages and had a much shorter "History" with chronologies of various events from different countries. I loved checking the meaning of new words, and often just paged through both books, usually looking at the pictures first, then picking one word and listing all the meanings in a journal I kept for the purpose.
I've still got several of those early journals and I see that I made a few crude drawings based on the pictures in the dictionary. The words have become a part of my vocabulary but the pictures lived on in my imagination, many of them with a life of their own.
I was absolutely delighted to find this wonderful book of images. Some of them are a bit fuzzy and unclear, but the pages of the big dictionary were printed on a very thin paper and coal dust from the school's furnace smeared the pages and many of the images. Paging through this volume brings back many memories, even a sense of actually being back there in Joeville Country School.
This book contains so many personal meanings I'm not sure how to recommend it to others. I'm pretty sure others will find looking through the images will be a fascinating journey of discovery. It was for me many years ago, and still is today.
Robert C. Ross 2009
Click Here to see more reviews about: Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities
Featuring over 1,500 engravings that originally graced the pages of Webster's dictionaries in the 19th century, this chunky volume is an irresistible treasure trove for art lovers, designers, and anyone with an interest in visual history. Meticulously cleaned and restored by fine-press bookmaker Johnny Carrera, the engravings in Pictorial Webster's have been compiled into an alluring and unusual visual reference guide for the modern day. Images range from the entirely mysterious to the classically iconic. From Acorns to Zebras, Bell Jars to Velocipedes, these alphabetically arranged archetypes and curiosities create enigmatic juxtapositions and illustrate the items deemed important to the Victorian mind. Sure to inspire and delight, Pictorial Webster's is at once a fascinatinghistorical record and a stunning jewel of a book.
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