TENTH EDITION

Dr. Spiers's French and English Dictionary has reacbed a tenth édition, has been adopted by the University of France for the use of French Collèges, and has received the approbation of theinstituteof France; it is an original work, coramenced in 1835 under the auspices of the French government ; it is the resuit of the conscientious labour of fourteen years, and it has beea enriched by the contributions of several of the most eminent men of both England and France.

Dictionaries of the two languages are generally reprints of Boyer, a work publishedin 1(J99, the French and English of which are IGO years old, and from which the greater part of the words since formed are necessarily ezcluded ; Boyer's French too is by no means pure, and his English extremely foreign.

Tlie définitions of things supposed to be unknown to foreigners are so literally transcribed, that the Louvre is still, in most dictionaries, the palace ofthe Icing of France in Paris, which it has ceased to be ac least a century and a quarter. At the words trowsers, \vaistco.\t, whisker, the student must not hope to find the only French etiuivalents, jjantalou, gilet, favori.

When terms so familiar as thèse are wantîng, wbat can be expected as to literary or scientific words, especially the latter, an immense number of which are of our own century ? As Boyer was published before Johnson, the admirable order of the latter is not observed ; the confusion is inextricable ; the acceptations of words the most distant from cach other being huddled together without a figure or a mark of any kind to show that they are not synonymes of the same sensé.

Thèse works abound in bai-barisms, mistranslations, and the most ludicrous absurdities of every species.

Dr. Spiers's Dictionary bas been composed from the best dictionaries exclusively English on the one hand and entirely French on the other ; the author har, introduced the rational order of Johnson ; he lias coUected innumerable terms in ordinary use or literary, and those of the arts and sciences, law, commerce, insurance, banking, exchange, customs, finances, the post-office, political economy, steam-navigation, and railways, which must necessarily be sought in vain in dictionaries printed from one writteu in the 17th century before thèse varions terms existed. At the word j»or/e of 76 compounds, this dictionary contains Gl words not in other dictionaries in gênerai, and 20 that are not to be found elsewhere.

This dictionary also contains the obsolète words and acceptations of the classical authors of both nations, the coins, weights and measures of each country reduced to those of the other. Important political institutions and public functions are briefly explained.

General order (V. title) and iypographical arrangement. — Acceptations, définitions, examples, idioms are not as usual jumbled indiscriminately together ; ail the sensés follow each other without inten-uption in order to présent at a glance ail the significations of the word ; each new acceptation is marked by a number; the sensés of the words are separated from the examples; thèse begin a new paragraph, and are in theirturn sejîarated from the idioms, which are classified in order to faciiitate research.

AccP])tations. — The acceptations of words being presented in their logical order, the varions sensés form a séries of modifications of the same idea logically deduced, and connected like the links of a cliain.

Prejiosilions. — Thèse are given when they diiTer in the two languages.

Words accompanied by adjectives, adverbs, etc., and idioms. — Thèse, after the words themselves, form the most essential part of a dictionary of two languagps. Hitherto they hâve been entirely neglected ; Dr. Spiers bas inserted a very considérable number, ail those in gênerai use.

Pronunciation. — The pronunciation bas been given of ail the words in the English-French dictionary and in the French -English dictionary of those that are irregular, or that présent the least difficulty. For each language the author bas employed the sounds of the same longue.

The following words are recommended for comparison. Ordinary terms : escalier, fâc/ié, monnaie, pantalon, rhume; arts and manufactures : coton, cuivre, fer, gaz, houille, huile, soie ; commercial terms : capital, commis, compagnie, effet, envoi ; customs : entrepôt, droit, transit ; engineering : écluse, pavé, pont, route, vapeur ; grammatical part : gens, s'indigner, je, /e (the pronoun), ni, on, pardoimer, se; law: détention, emprisonnement, héritier, homicide, vol ; military terms : faction, file, garnison ; mining : filon, galerie ; the navy : ancre, armée, bâtiment, flotte, mât, voile ; postoffice terms : dépêche, lettre, port ; railways : convoi (the Oiher dictionaries hâve not even this sensé of the term), rail, train; gênerai technology: machine, pompe, puits, roue, treuil, vis, It is confidently hoped that a comparison with any page whatever will prove the superiority of this new work, the labour of fourteen years.