When I was asked to undertake the preparation of this French Dictionary,
I had no idea of the formidable nature of the task that lay before me. It
was obvious, of course, that a very great deal would have to be done to
bring up to date a dictionary of a living language that is ever growing,
and in which new words and new meanings of words are being coined almost
daily. But I found, in the course of the four and a half years during
which I have been engaged upon the work, that it assumed proportions
altogether undreamt of, and that I was virtually producing a new work.
Perhaps I may be permitted to direct attention to some of the features
which distinguish the new edition.
Many thousands of new words and phrases, idioms and idiomatic
expressions, proverbs and proverbial expressions, have been included. In
a great many instances chapter and verse have been given. Two hundred
columns of print have been added to the book.
For the words in the French-English part, I have closely followed the
smaller Littré as well as Bescherelle, and have taken special care to
give, as far as the compass of the Dictionary would allow, illustrative
examples of the many and various meanings conveyed by the words under
review. These various meanings have also been classified, as far as
possible, under their respective heads. In the English-French portion I
have, as far as the selection of words is concerned, closely followed the
lines of Cassell’s English Dictionary. The latest classical, general,
scientific, commercial, naval, and military terms are incorporated. In
this part, too, the “notation” of the words has been carefully marked
throughout and the pronunciation revised.
Among other features of the work which may justly, I think, be
accounted improvements, I may mention the following, viz.: the
different prepositions governing verbs have been printed in heavier
type—thus simplifying one of the greatest difficulties of the language;
the pronunciation of the words, where necessary, has been carefully
indicated; and the list of geographical names of countries and places has
been largely added to.
The work has occupied me, as I have said, for more than four years;
but the process of revision has been to me most interesting, and while
the labour expended has been far greater than anything I could have
anticipated, I trust that the result will give satisfaction to an even
larger circle of readers than was obtained by previous editions.