is, 1840,
8vo, 2 vols.

The French Academy, after five years' consideration, began their
dictionary, on the 7th of February 1639, by examining the letter A,
which took them nine months to go through. The word Academie was for
some time omitted by oversight. They decided, on the 8th of March
1638, not to cite authorities, and they have since always claimed the
right of making their own examples. Olivier justifies them by saying
that for eighty years all the best writers belonged to their body, and
they could not be expected to cite each other. Their design was to
raise the language to its last perfection, and to open a road to reach
the highest eloquence. Antoine Furetiere, one of their members,
compiled a dictionary which he says cost him forty years' labour for
ten hours a day, and the manuscript filled fifteen chests. He gave
words of all kinds, especially technical, names of persons and places,
and phrases. As a specimen, he published his _Essai_, Paris, 1684,
4to; Amst. 1685, 12mo. The Academy charged him with using the
materials they had prepared for their dictionary, and expelled him, on
the 22nd of January 1685, for plagiarism. He died on the 14th of May
1688, in the midst of the consequent controversy and law suit. His
complete work was published, with a preface by Bayle, La Haye and
Rotterdam, 1690, fol., 3 vols.; again edited by Basnage de Beauval,
1701; La Haye, 1707, fol., 4 vols. From the edition of 1701 the very
popular so-called _Dictionnaire de Trevoux_, Trevoux, 1704, fol., 2
vols., was made by the Jesuits, who excluded everything that seemed to
favour the Calvinism of Basnage. The last of its many editions is
Paris, 1771, fol., 8 vols. The Academy's dictionary was first printed
Paris, 1694, fol., 2 vols. They began the revision in 1700; second
edition 1718, fol., 2 vols.; 3rd, 1740, fol., 2 vols.; 6th, 1835, 2
vols. 4to, reprinted 1855; Supplement, by F. Raymond, 1836, 4to;
Complement, 1842, 4to, reprinted 1856; _Dictionnaire historique_,
Paris, 1858-1865, 4to, 2 parts (A to Actu), 795 pages, published by
the Institut: Dochez, Paris, 1859, 4to: Bescherelle, ib. 1844, 4to, 2
vols.; 5th ed. Paris, 1857, 4to, 2 vols.; 1865; 1887: Landais, Paris,
1835; 12th ed. ib. 1854, 4to, 2 vols.: Littre, Paris, 1863-1873, 4to,
4 vols. 7118 pages: Supplement, Paris, 1877, 4to: Godefroy (with
dialects from 9th to 15th cent.), Paris, 1881-1895, and _