The Roycroft Dictionary, Concocted

Hubbard, Elbert, 1856-1915Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 97K words
Chapters: 10

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Roycroft Dictionary, Concocted by Ali Baba and the Bunch on Rainy Days.Author: Hubbard, Elbert, 1856-1915,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jun 30, 2011

Editor's review

This is a parody dictionary concocted by Elbert Hubbard under the pen name “Ali Baba and the Bunch on Rainy Days,” a product of the Roycroft press and publishing enterprise. It does not aim for the normative completeness of a dictionary; instead, it uses the entry form to hold aphorisms, satire, wisecracks, and life lessons, bearing a distinctly personal tone and the flavor of American popular wisdom at the turn of the twentieth century. The pleasure of reading it lies in watching the author twist ordinary entries into gateways for social commentary. The entries are short and well suited to fragmented reading. For those studying Hubbard himself, the Roycroft movement, or American aphoristic writing, this is material of stylistic value; general readers can treat it as a light collection of essays. Note that it is not a reference work and cannot be used to verify word meanings, and its opinions carry strong personal bias.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in American aphoristic writing and the parody dictionary form
Literary and historical enthusiasts studying Elbert Hubbard and the Roycroft press
Casual readers who enjoy short maxims and books to dip into
Advanced learners who need English satirical and humorous texts for reading practice

Not a good fit for

Dictionary users seeking to verify word meanings or find standard definitions
Readers expecting systematic vocabulary knowledge or a language-learning textbook
Readers uninterested in personalized maxims and a satirical tone

Reading tips

You need not read straight through alphabetically; open to any entry at random, read a few, and set it down, keeping a light reading rhythm.
When something strikes a chord, jot down the entry and your comment, observing the author’s recurring satirical devices and values.
Compare the same entry with a standard dictionary to see how a parody dictionary departs from conventional definition.
If using it for research, group entries by theme, such as life, money, society, and religion.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this a real dictionary?

No. It borrows the dictionary entry form but actually collects aphorisms, satire, and wisecracks; the pen name “Ali Baba and the Bunch on Rainy Days” also signals its playful nature. It cannot be used to verify word meanings and is better read as parody literature.

Who is the author Elbert Hubbard?

Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) was an American writer and publisher associated with the Roycroft press. This book comes out of that publishing context. His writing often has an aphoristic and didactic cast; for biographical details, consult other biographical sources, as the book itself offers no account of the author’s life.

In what order are the entries arranged?

Judging from the title and format, it follows the dictionary’s alphabetical arrangement of entries, making it convenient to look up words by letter. But the entry content is commentary and aphorism rather than definition, so reading alphabetically is more like browsing a collection of essays than systematic study.

Is it suitable for intensive reading by English learners?

It can serve as advanced reading material: the entries are short and the sentences concise, making it suitable for practicing an understanding of satirical tone. But many expressions carry period flavor and personal style and should not be imitated as a model of standard English. Read with a teacher or annotations, focusing on rhetoric rather than memorizing usage.

Comments

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About the author

Hubbard, Elbert, 1856-1915 Author

Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) was an American writer. Specific details of his life and nationality are limited in publicly available sources, and the library holds 21 of his works. He is best known for the Little Journeys series, which visits the homes of great figures and offers biographical sketches and essays. Representative works in the library include volumes 3, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 14 of that series, as well as Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great Philosophers, Volume 8. These works focus on biography, thought, and historical anecdote, written in a clear, accessible style that combines biographical narrative with the appeal of an essay, suitable for general readers interested in Western cultural figures. Hubbard's writing is known for its brevity and epigrammatic expression, a quality also evident in his travel essays. This introduction is based only on library facts and verifiable public knowledge.