4 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



of any other single publication that he is popularly known, 

 for the majority of his writings were anonymous or signed 

 only with initials. The biographic notices of Ord state that 

 he employed much of his leisure in lexicographic researches. 

 I am informed by his cousin Mr. Gregory B. Keen, that Ord 

 compiled much data for the first edition of Webster's diction- 

 ary. This was used without acknowledgment by Webster, a 

 fact silently resented by Ord until Webster wrote him some 

 years later for assistance on the third edition. In reply Ord 

 reminded Noah of his discourtesy, and being a great admirer 

 of Dr. Johnson wrote him that if he would make his new edi- 

 tion conform to the Johnsonian spelling he would aid him. 

 Webster was compelled to refuse. Soon after, Latham, of 

 London, secured from Ord the whole MSS. of nearly forty 

 years' work in philology, and in every instance where he used 

 it in compiling his new edition of Johnson's Dictionary he 

 makes acknowledgment to the "Ord MSS." Alexander Wil- 

 son secured his work of compiling the natural history portion of 

 Bradford's American edition of Rees' Encyclopsedia in 1806, and 

 there is little doubt that Ord, as much as any one, secured him 

 this important employment, which might be called the ' ' first 

 edition " of Wilson's " Ornithology." While we have no data 

 at hand to prove it, it is more than probable that Ord assisted 

 Wilson greatly in this labor besides contributing to other de- 

 partments of this, the largest literary undertaking attempted up 

 to that time in America. 



After the death of Wilson, in August, 1813, Ord, then thirty- 

 two years of age, completed the ' ' Ornithology, ' ' editing Volume 

 VIII and writing all the text of Volume IX. This work, how- 

 ever, does not appear to have exhausted his energies, for John- 

 son and Warner, publishers of Philadelphia, induced him to 

 compile the zoological portion of their so-called "Second 

 American Edition" of Guthrie's Geography. This was pub- 

 lished in 1815. Strangely enough, only three copies of this 

 work are known to exist, namely, Ord's private annotated copy 

 owned by Dr. Solis Cohen of Philadelphia, another lately 

 obtained in Wilmington, Del., by my friend C. J. Pennock of 

 Kennett Square, Pa., and an excerpt of the zoological portion 



