A large lexicon of 450,000 English words alphabetically arranged, with spelling, capitalization, Italicization, compounds, pronunciation, 1000 synonyms, 3000 b&w drawings, illustrative quotations, and etymology.

With 24 full-page color Plates, including State Birds, butterflies, cats, colors, constellations, dogs, fishes, flags, gems, horses, insects, man's anatomy, monkeys, poisonous plants, sails, seashells, ships, flowers, and trees.

With Tables for the three major language groups, ship's bells, architecture, Braille alphabet, chief crusades, ocean currents, chemical elements, geologic time, gestation, glacial epochs, measures, Morse code, cardinal and ordinal numbers, denominations above million, periodic table, calendars, pitches, planets, pronouns, radio frequencies, formulas, time chart, etc. ( )

I'd give this five stars, but I have to have something to rate the OED at. Web3 is the next-best thing, which is truly saying something. It's showing its age a bit in the lack of newer terminology, but it's a fantastic unabridged dictionary. If you can't afford the OED, get this one. (It's also on CD-ROM at Amazon for about US$45) ( )

I love this book so much I own two copies. One is old, from an estate sale, published in the 60's and the other is new, a gift to myself. ( )