{"value"=>"<p>The writings of Noah Webster are divided by topic and arranged alphabetically within each topic. The series includes manuscript drafts of writings on assorted topics including etymology and orthography, legislative matters, and politics and history.</p> <p>Items of note among the writings of Noah Webster include Webster's manuscript draft of the printed circular of February 25 1807, addressed \"To the Friends of Literature in the United States.\" This advertisement described Webster's work in gathering material for the dictionary and also the financial burden it entailed. He asks for contributions from individuals and learned societies to continue his work. The series also includes Webster's etymological research, the \"synopsis of words.\" Around 1810, Webster began work comparing words having the same or cognate radical letter, in about twenty languages, for the purpose of obtaining a more correct knowledge of the primary sense of original words, and of the affinities between English and other others languages. He spent ten years in this comparison of radical words, and arranged them in classes under their primary letters. The synopsis was never published, but in the preface to the unabridged An American Dictionary of the English Language he refers to its role in the Dictionary's final form.</p> <p>Legislative writings include drafts and propositions to the Connecticut and Massachusetts legislatures.</p> <p>The miscellaneous writings cover a wide range of topics, including scientific research. The newsclippings contain a collection of Webster's editorials from Connecticut newspapers from 1836-1842. Writings on politics and history include unpublished manuscripts on governance.</p>"}