Reference Webster, Noah: Webster's Dictionary 1913 (updated .EPUB), v2.1, 17 July 2009

[nrapallo]

All this recent talk of dictionaries made me dig up this dictionary I had converted to eBookwise 1150 .imp several years ago.

This ambitious project by The K-Dawg ( http://web.archive.org/web/200406061...adiocrypt.com/ ) updated the 1913 Webster's dictionary back in 2003 to include (sic) 125,970 searchable words!!!

BTW, Easter egg alert, check the entry for 'K-Dawg, The' after the Ka words.... (Pompous comes to mind!)

Note this webpage is no longer on the internet, but can still be found using the WayBackMachine at archive.org. The original Websters' Dictionary 2.0.rb (for the Rocket eBook reader) may not be still available there, but I have posted a copy of it here (15MB). The info extracted from that .rb is presented here:

COMMENT=Info file for the following eBook
TITLE=Webster's Dictionary ver 2.0
AUTHOR=HTML ed. by KDawg
BODY=Final12.html
URL=ebook:rbmk-3e58bb890987fff91699
GENERATOR=rbmake v0.99f using the rbmake library v0.99f
HKEY=1
TYPE=2
VERSION=1
PARSE=1
OUTPUT=1

I updated the .html (see '_2.0_epub_source' .zip attached below) extracted from that .rb to convert to Sony PRS-505 .epub! The .html now includes 110,875 words, a two-tier TOC with tier one being placed in the first page of the reader and tier two (2600+ links) from the letters of the alphabet.

I automated the process to add TOC entries into a two-tiered TOC. I ended up adding just over 2600 TOC links. The idea was to space them evenly over every 50 words and then the mid point would be no more than 25 words from either side (word_before TOClink or word_after TOClink). With an average of (say) 5 words to a "page" that would mean the mid point would be only 5 page-turns away!

Now, the exciting news, all words referenced in a definition like 'See Base' are now hyperlinked to that entry in the dictionary; some 50,000+ new links have been added by me!

Using html2epub.exe from Calibre (v0.4.101), this conversion from .html to .epub took almost 48 hours! However, the conversion actually crashed before it created the .epub, but Calibre had split the .html per the Sony's requirements in my Windows temp folder. All I had to do was complete the .opf and toc.ncx. I manually created the .epub, so I HOPE this works! (see attached image for the actual crash/error...)

Even though this is a 100 year old dictionary, I hope you find it useful. I know some people will probably read it like a book....

BTW, did I mention IT'S HUGE.

Enjoy this one!

EDIT: 23 Nov 2008 I just found this great abbreviation reference listing to the (1913) abbreviations used throughout this dictionary. Now you'll be in the know!

EDIT: 17 July 2009 Uploaded an updated version 2.1 as 'Websters Dictionary 1913_ver21.epub' with improved TOC links and cover page display as well as incorporated the abbreviations listing

!!! Please note that 'Websters Dictionary 1913.epub' (now removed) is actually the older version 2.0 ebook and has been improved upon in the version 2.1 offering (_ver21.epub) below !!!

Previous downloads for v2.0: 848

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[vivaldirules]

Nick, you persistent workin' dog, you. Good show! I can't wait to give this a whirl. I'll let you know how it goes. I can't imagine it's practical for routine use but it could be in a pinch and I might just put it on a separate SD card. Thanks!

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

Nick, you persistent workin' dog, you. Good show! I can't wait to give this a whirl. I'll let you know how it goes. I can't imagine it's practical for routine use but it could be in a pinch and I might just put it on a separate SD card. Thanks!

I hope it works! I hope it works! I hope it works!

Like I said before, when trying to use html2lrf to create the .lrf version,

Originally Posted by nrapallo

It was a valiant effort, but, I don't like to loose i.e. not succeed! Hopefully it can be made to work!

Well, thanks to Kovid, this .epub version is a reality!

[HarryT]

Moved to the "Other formats" forum section because it's ePub not LRF.

[nrapallo]

Just to clarify, this .epub was created specially for use on the Sony PRS-505, using the --profile "PRS505" option in html2epub.exe.

I also had created a less-restricted .epub version using --profile "None", which did not split the 40MB .html. That one has not been uploaded here.

[vivaldirules]

Nick, I've been meaning to tell you that I finally cleared some room on my Sony 505 to test this. It works great! I thought it would take forever to load and navigate but it actually opens instantly to the first page (which, by the way, is blank). On the next page (the table of contents) you usually have to make repeated button pushes to get to the letter you want to select and that takes a few seconds to do. Once you've selected the first letter (e.g., M), the Reader then displays "Formatting...." at the bottom and Sony's equivalent of the hourglass. That takes about 15 seconds or so and then you arrive at your well designed second level table of contents. From there, it takes a bit of time to again make repeated button pushes to highlight and select the link you want (e.g., Mendable), then there's only a few seconds pause again and you're at your destination and usually only a few pages from the word you wanted to look up (e.g., Meniver). In all, the process usually takes less than a minute. All the links work well (e.g., in the definition for Meniver, there is "Same as Miniver" with a link). The only possible discomfort is if you've mistakenly looked up a word in the main body of the 1913 dictionary which is actually in the "New" words section that you've so kindly added. But I've usually guessed correctly whether a word is new or not.

All in all, I find this to be a terrific addition to my Sony library and I intend to keep it and use it often. It's not as seemless as it would be if Sony had added real dictionary support to the Readers by letting you highlight a word in an ebook and push a button to take you to the entry in a dictionary. But without that support, this is the next best thing and I think it's wonderful. I greatly appreciate the very significant effort you made in making it available and I take my hat off to you. Thanks!

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

Nick, I've been meaning to tell you that I finally cleared some room on my Sony 505 to test this. It works great!

Good to know it at least works!

I thought it would take forever to load and navigate but it actually opens instantly to the first page (which, by the way, is blank).

Oops, it should have been the cover page image. It did work in the .epub viewer, though.

On the next page (the table of contents) you usually have to make repeated button pushes to get to the letter you want to select and that takes a few seconds to do. Once you've selected the first letter (e.g., M), the Reader then displays "Formatting...." at the bottom and Sony's equivalent of the hourglass. That takes about 15 seconds or so and then you arrive at your well designed second level table of contents. From there, it takes a bit of time to again make repeated button pushes to highlight and select the link you want (e.g., Mendable), then there's only a few seconds pause again and you're at your destination and usually only a few pages from the word you wanted to look up (e.g., Meniver). In all, the process usually takes less than a minute. All the links work well (e.g., in the definition for Meniver, there is "Same as Miniver" with a link). The only possible discomfort is if you've mistakenly looked up a word in the main body of the 1913 dictionary which is actually in the "New" words section that you've so kindly added. But I've usually guessed correctly whether a word is new or not.

I actually didn't add the "New words", the original author "found them" at the end of his conversion and then added those 15095 "New words" to the previous word count (110875) to get (sic) 125970 words, however, they were already there! Including all words, there are only 110875 words. So the "New words" only relate to "new" in the context of the 1913 era. Any Post-1913 "New" words are NOT included!

All in all, I find this to be a terrific addition to my Sony library and I intend to keep it and use it often. It's not as seemless as it would be if Sony had added real dictionary support to the Readers by letting you highlight a word in an ebook and push a button to take you to the entry in a dictionary. But without that support, this is the next best thing and I think it's wonderful. I greatly appreciate the very significant effort you made in making it available and I take my hat off to you. Thanks!

I think the only thing that can make this Dictionary "functional" on the Sony reader, is for the Sony reader to have a touchscreen for lookup/selction purposes! Did I hear 700?

[nrapallo]

I've just added an external link to post #1 above for a great abbreviation reference listing to the (1913) abbreviations used throughout this dictionary. Now you'll be in the know!

[Diogene]

You are doing something great!
This dictionary could be very useful to read anything from Hamlet to Dickens, and many contemporary books too. At least for a French person like me!
I wonder if I can use it with my BeBook (Hanlin clone).
Did you try to get in touch with the guys from the OpenInkpot project? Maybe they could help implement a fast and convenient search feature, like a virtual keyboard, or a way to select a word from a book and look up its definition in a dictionary?
Thank you very much for what you are doing!

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by Diogene

You are doing something great!
This dictionary could be very useful to read anything from Hamlet to Dickens, and many contemporary books too. At least for a French person like me!
I wonder if I can use it with my BeBook (Hanlin clone).
Did you try to get in touch with the guys from the OpenInkpot project? Maybe they could help implement a fast and convenient search feature, like a virtual keyboard, or a way to select a word from a book and look up its definition in a dictionary?
Thank you very much for what you are doing!

You're welcome!

And the OpenInkpot project is welcomed to use the .html source in post #1 above (used to build this .epub).

[Diogene]

I do not how to select words and letters in your dictionary in my Bebook.
Do you know if this is possible?
Thank you!

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by Diogene

I do not how to select words and letters in your dictionary in my Bebook.
Do you know if this is possible?
Thank you!

The way this dictionary is presently designed, you can only select the Table of Contents words (at the beginning of the ebook) to narrow down the search to the word you are looking for.

There is no direct access to words, like a lookup type dictionary would do. All 110875 words are referenced, but not added to the Table of Contents.

You could use this wordlist as the master referenced links to any word, but I don't know how that would be done on the Bebook.

[Diogene]

Thank you!
But even selecting one of those words listed in the first pages to narrow the search does not work on my BeBook.
I hope a new firmware or OpenInkpot cant change that.

[Kris777]

Originally Posted by nrapallo

All this recent talk of dictionaries made me dig up this dictionary I had converted to eBookwise 1150 .imp several years ago.

It is interesting if Webster's Dictionary 1913 copyrigted by Webster or not

[nrapallo]

Originally Posted by Kris777

It is interesting if Webster's Dictionary 1913 copyrigted by Webster or not

The dictionary in this post, was derived from the Project Gutenberg 1913 Webster's Dictionary posted as series of text files by letter/letters (but the .txt file is really html code!).

So I think this dictionary would then be in the PD. I have "added" to it, but the text is not copyrighted.