A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language

American author, editor, and lexicographer Noah Webster published a series of “spellers” and other educational books for children before publishing his first English language dictionary in 1806. His early works served to establish the roots of American pedagogy after his own unfavorable experience with educational texts published in England. This first edition of Webster’s pocket-sized Dictionary is divided into five sections:

I.--Tables of the moneys of most of the commercial nations in the world ... 

II.--Tables of weights and measures, ancient and modern ... 

III.--The divisions of time among the Jews, Greeks and Romans ... 

IV.--An official list of the post-offices in the United States ... 

V.--The number of inhabitants in the United States, with the amount of exports. IV.[!]--New and interesting chronological tables of remarkable events and discoveries