Noah Webster Jr. to William Jay, 21 July 1826
Noah Webster Jr. to William Jay
New Haven. July 21. 1826
Sir
I have received your favor of the 17th Inst.1 & in reply would observe, that although my expenses, in the preparation of my Dictionary, have been great & far greater than I could well afford, yet I shall be at no expense in the publication— Mr Converse taking that upon himself. Your father therefore will please to accept my thanks for his generous offer— & permit me to decline accepting it.
Mr Converse has removed to New York,2 where my work will be put to press, as soon as the necessary types can be procured. I had intended that all parts of this work & the instruments of its execution should be American— but I found on consulting the type-founders that the expense of the dies for the oriental letters would be very great. & therefore Mr Converse has sent to England for these— The English letter is of American Manufacture.3
It would give me great pleasure to visit your honored father & your family— Your father is one of the few of those venerable men whose names surviving, whose names revive in me all the interesting recollections of the most interesting period of our political history. If I can with convenience, I will shortly pay my respects to him, in person—4 In the mean time, Sir, be pleased to accept for him & your Self & family my particular respects, & my acknowledgements for his kind wishes, which I cordially reciprocate. I have the honor to be, Sir, your obedt Servt
Noah Webster
Hon William Jay
ALS, NNC (EJ: 04917). Endorsed.
1. See WJ to Noah Webster Jr., 17 July 1826, above.
2. Converse resided in New York City at 132 Water St.
3. Converse’s advertisement for subscriptions to the American Dictionary stressed the nationalist ambitions of the work, “The work is American, and is to confer honor on the nation, as well as on the learned and indefatigable author” and “No pains or expense will be spared to make it a superior specimen of American typography.” However, the advertisement also mentioned the delay in production due to the necessity of ordering “founts of orient types from Europe.” Connecticut Herald (New Haven), 2 May 1826.
4. No record of such a visit survives.