Author: WALKER (John):
Title: A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary, and Expositor of the English Language.... To which are prefixed, Principles of English Pronunciation.... The whole interspersed with Observations, Etymological, Critical, and Grammatical.... The Fourth Edition; With considerable Improvements, and large Additions.
Description: London: Printed for J. Johnson... [iter alia], 1806. 4to, 264 x 205 mms., pp. 87 [88 advertisement, 543, 544 blank], contemporary tree calf, spine ornately gilt, black leather label; corners worn, joints rubbed, but a very good copy. This was the last edition of this work to be published in the lifetime of John Walker (1732 - 1807), but at least another 35 editions were published. In the 18th century, the public on both sides of the Atlantic were eager for guidance on how to speak correctly. John 'Elocution' Walker (1732–1807) met this demand by illustrating how to reproduce a 'cultured' London accent, which he described as 'undoubtedly the best'. A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary (1791) gives advice for people with Scottish or Irish accents, and above all for Londoners with a Cockney accent, which according to Walker was 'a thousand times more offensive and disgusting' (British Library). The first edition of 1971 was widely reviewed, and The European Magazine and London Review termed it, rather lamely, "contains many words omitted in all preceding ones, [and] may be recommended to the reader, as it will afford that information for which works of this kind are calculated."

Keywords: pronunciation dictionary prose


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