The
Rhyming Dictionary
of
The English Language
in which the whole language is arranged
according to its terminations
Originally published in 1775 by
John Walker,
Walker's Rhyming Dictionary was never really intended as a dictionary of rhymes. Walker intended it as a
pronunciation guide for provincials and foreigners. It was a companion piece to his earlier work,
"The Critical Pronouncing Dictionary"
Walker's was not the first rhyming dictionary. In 1570 Peter Levens' produced Manipulus Vocabulorum , but Levens' dictionary was interlingual (latin and english). Walker's became a favorite of writers and poets. Simon Fanshawe regards Walker's Rhyming Dictionary as one of the five great English reference books.