The Reverend Mr. Thomas Dilworth (died 1780) was an English cleric and author of a widely used schoolbook, both in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, ''A New Guide to the English Tongue.''

Noah Webster Noah Webster (October 16, 1758 – May 28, 1843) was an American lexicographer, textbook pioneer, English-language spelling reformer, political writer, editor, and author. He has been called the "Father of American Scholarship and Education" ...

as a boy studied Dilworth's book, and was inspired partly by it to create his own

spelling Spelling is a set of conventions for written language regarding how graphemes should correspond to the sounds of spoken language. Spelling is one of the elements of orthography, and highly standardized spelling is a prescriptive element. Spelli ...

book on completely different principles, using pictures and stories of interest to children. By some accounts Dilworth was one of the few schoolbooks used by

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

. Published in 1740, by 1773, it was in its thirty-sixth edition. The last American edition was published in 1827 in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

. The full-page frontispiece portrait of the author was well known to generations of doodling school children and is mentioned in

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the great ...

; in ''Sketches by Boz.'' Chapter X there is a humorous description of rowers' togs on the Thames: :They approach in full aquatic costume, with round blue jackets, striped shirts, and caps of all sizes and patterns, from the velvet skull-cap of French manufacture, to the easy head-dress familiar to the students of the old spelling-books, as having, on the authority of the portrait, formed part of the costume of the Reverend Mr. Dilworth. The other front matter provides an extensive preface, a dedication to the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

schools of Great Britain and Ireland, recommendations from educators and a full-page poetic encomium to Dilworth by J. Duick:

What thanks, my friend, should to thy care be given Which makes the paths to science smooth and even. Henceforth our youth who tread thy flowery way, Shall ne'er from rules of proper diction stray; No more their speech with barbarous terms be filled No more their pens a crop of nonsense yield.

Dilworth's book plays the part of a paragon in the poem "The Rising Village" by

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish poet, novelist, playwright, and hack writer. A prolific author of various literature, he is regarded among the most versatile writers of the Georgian e ...

about the influences of improper education in a

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

community. Dilworth also wrote other schoolbooks on arithmetic and bookkeeping.

External links

"Dilworth's 'Great Scholastic Fame'" (Archived)

"Dilworth's Speller at Google Books"

Bibliography

*''New Guide to the English Tongue'', facsim. 1978 of 1793 ed. *''New Guide to the English Tongue'', 1761 12mo." *''Book-Keeper's Assistant'' 8vo. *'' The Schoolmaster's Assistant, Being a Compendium of Arithmetic both Practical and Theoretical'' 12mo. *''Arithmetic'' 12mo. *''Compendium of Arithmetic'' 1752 12mo. *''Critical Dictionary of English Literature...'' S. A. Allibone, Lippincott, Philadelphia. 1871 (U. Mich. Making of America collection) *''What Jefferson and Lincoln Read'' by Douglas L. Wilson. The Atlantic, Jan 1991 v267 n1 p51(10) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dilworth, Thomas 1780 deaths Linguists of English Year of birth unknown Place of birth unknown