Hey y'all,
So I'm broke and looking for an Esperanto dictionary (fairly new to the language but I've been really enjoying it). So far in my studies I've been using the internet but honestly, I just prefer paper in my hands. So a family member was nice enough to give me a $15 amazon gift card for my dictionary hunt. Well I've found a few Esperanto dictionaries at about that price and I thought I'd ask for y'alls feed back. The ones I've found are listed below. What do y'all prefer? Any that didn't work for you at all? Something else I should be looking at? Thank you so much and I hope y'all have a great day!

English-Esperanto Dictionary by Charles Frederic Hayes (Author)
http://www.amazon.com/English-Esperanto-Dictionary...

ESPDIC : Esperanto - English Dictionary (Esperanto Edition) (Esperanto) by Paul Denisowski and Brian Scott Carpenter
http://www.amazon.com/ESPDIC-Esperanto-English-Dic...

Esperanto Dictionary (Teach Yourself) Paperback by J C Wells
http://www.amazon.com/Esperanto-Dictionary-Teach-Y...

Esperanto-English, English-Esperanto Dictionary and Phrasebook by Joseph F. Conroy
http://www.amazon.com/Esperanto-English-English-Es...

You'll definitely want a more modern dictionary. Hayes is nice, for example, but at some point you'll want to know the word for something that didn't exist until after 1906.

I always liked Wells myself, largely because it has a nice little grammar in the front and, at the time (1986), was the only modern English-language dictionary and grammar available. But that dictionary has reportedly gotten very idiosyncratic in later editions. (My first one was from the mid-eighties, my current one from 1992; if you can find an edition from around then, it should be largely free of the funk it has nowadays.)

But your best bet will be Comprehensive English-Esperanto Dictionary by Peter Benson (http://www.amazon.com/Comprehensive-English-Espera...). No grammar, but the dictionary provides context for words (many other Esperanto dictionaries don't) and is written in Mercan English as the good Lord intended.

John Wells told me once that original publishers of his Teach Yourself dictionary (English Esperanto/ Esperanto English) would not allow him to bring out a new edition, preferring to reprint the 1969 version. He had to change publishers to bring out the 2010 version.

So any copy of the Teach Yourself dictionary will have the same content regardless of age and there were thousands of copies of this dictionary produced.

Furthermore, Esperantists often will or donate their Esperanto books to their national associations, so in your situation I would be tempted to bang off an email to the American or British Esperanto association.

My impression is that Esperanto books on Amazon can be very over-priced compared to what is available second hand in the Esperanto community

I have seen po-faced criticisms of the Wells dictionaries (by people with lexicographical airs) as being mere wordlists, or having this or that inadequacy. But pay no attention. You will find either the original or the later edition very practical.

I like the Wells.

Benson is good for a one-direction dictionary (English-Esperanto) but for a beginner, for a first dictionary, I strongly recommend a two-way dictionary (Esperanto-English and English-Esperanto).

I have an old Wells I used as a beginner, a new Wells that I use now, though I use it much less of course. I have heard criticisms of the new Wells in this forum and I disagree with a couple of word choices that Wells made but I still think it's the best paper dictionary and I still think it's a good one (with the usual caveats - if you look up a word and you see a list of translations, LOOK THOSE UP before choosing one, to help you choose the right one. Wells doesn't explain the meaning of each translation but I suppose he does this to save space and include more words in the dictionary).