"The 408-page book, created by lexicographer and writer Noah Webster, does not look like a modern dictionary. The book is only about 6½ inches tall and four inches wide, the type is small, there are no illustrations, and most of the 37,000 definitions take up no more than a line of type. "

"Still, John M. Morse, the president and publisher of Merriam-Webster in Springfield, said Webster viewed the dictionary as a way to educate, unify and inspire Americans in the early years of the republic. "

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