THE SHORTER OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Oxford, London, 1959; Third Edition, Revised with Addenda and Corrigenda.  Prepared by William Little, H. W. Fowler, and J. Coulson; Revised and Edited by C. T. Onions.  Hard covers, 2515 pages.  Volume I – A to M has some shelf and spine end wear, a few spots on boards, small tear to spine head; binding sound with head and tail bands.  No jacket.  Gift inscription on FEP; remainder of interior clean and unmarked.  Volume II – N to Z has some shelf wear, a bit of soil on outer page block; spine ends bumped; binding cracked at addenda at rear with all pages secure.  Dust jacket with price intact shows edge and cover wear, some soil and age-toning, short tears and some losses.  Gift inscription on FEP; remainder of interior clean and unmarked.  ‘This Dictionary is an abridgement officially authorized by the Delegates of the Oxford University Press of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles, later known as The Oxford English Dictionary.  The need for such an abridged form of the great work was envisaged at the outset.  The publication of this work is, in fact, a fulfilment of one of the provisions of the agreement entered into in the year 1879 between the Philological Society and the Oxford University Press.’ (from Preface)