Dictionary sales collapse, but spelling enthusiasts resist: “My bible is Larousse”

How long has it been since you opened a dictionary? For Mathis, “cIt’s been five years.” The Larousse celebrates its 170th anniversary with a new 2023 edition available in bookstores, and everywhere else on Wednesday June 15, but the young man may not jump on it. “Now I search the words on Google”he smiles.

Since our laptops and computers have the answer to everything, the dictionary market plummets. The publishers Larousse and Le Robert do not communicate their sales figures, but several major booksellers confirm it: sales of dictionaries have been divided by ten in less than 15 years. For example, the evolution of the sales figures of the Maison du Dictionnaire in Paris is striking: 19 copies of the Petit Robert de la langue française were sold in 2021, compared to 122 in 2015 and 188 in 2008. Petit Larousse illustré, which only sold 12 copies in 2021, compared to 75 in 2015 and 128 in 2008.

Is there still one to refer to the paper version? You have to look for them, for example, on the side of Scrabble players. “I always have the dictionary next to me”, assures Marie-France, met in a Parisian Scrabble club, in the 5th arrondissement of the capital. With Claudine and their other comrades, they admit to consulting it very regularly every day. “That’s for sure, Claudine completes. It can be ten times a day! In Scrabble, it’s very useful!” “We are crazy people”, laughs her neighbor. However, here again, the digital is essential, with special applications. Also, the use of the paper dictionary is dwindling.

“I only consult it very little: from a certain level in Scrabble, you are still supposed to know the spelling of words, at least those up to eight letters. Otherwise, you forget everything .”

The dictionary is still on the curriculum in primary school, where we learn to use it. In some cities, it is even offered to students entering sixth grade.

Others use it every day, with passion: “I recognize a Larousse from a Robert with my eyes closed, smiles, dreamer, Muriel Gilbert, proofreader at the newspaper The world. I can recognize by ear the pages of the Larousse, which has a slightly glossy paper.” “My bible is the Larousse, she continues. My dictionary, I open it 50 times a day! Every year, we look forward to the new edition, which arrives from the documentation on a cart.”

“When the new dictionaries arrive, they are wrapped in transparent paper and everyone jumps on theirs: we unfold it and it looks like Christmas!”

Muriel Gilbert, proofreader at “Le Monde” newspaper

at franceinfo

“Correctionists live surrounded by dictionaries, says this passionate about words. They are both their blanket, their toolbox and without them they feel absolutely naked. There is almost a carnal exchange with the pages of the dictionary…» «Do you hear, Robert?she asks us greedily, crumpling the pages of the precious bible, which the profession does not seem ready to abandon right away.