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Genre/Form: | Biographies Criticism, interpretation, etc History Biography |
---|---|
Named Person: | William Chester Minor; James A H Murray; William Chester Minor; James A H Murray |
Document Type: | Book |
All Authors / Contributors: |
Simon Winchester |
ISBN: | 006099486X 9780060994860 |
OCLC Number: | 1136163312 |
Awards: | Short-listed for Book Sense Book of the Year Award (Adult) 1999 |
Description: | [1 volumes] |
Contents: | Dead of night in Lambeth Marsh -- Man who taught Llatin to cattle -- Madness of war -- Gathering earth's daughters -- Big dictionary conceived -- Scholar in cell block two -- Entering the lists -- Annulated, art, brick-tea, buckwheat -- Meeting of minds -- Unkindest cut -- Then only the monuments -- Postscript -- Author's note -- Acknowledgments -- Suggestions for further reading. |
Responsibility: | Simon Winchester. |
Abstract:
The Professor and the Madman, masterfully researched and eloquently written, is an extraordinary tale of madness, genius, and the incredible obsessions of two remarkable men that led to the making of the Oxford English Dictionary -- and literary history. The compilation of the OED began in 1857, it was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken. As definitions were collected, the overseeing committee, led by Professor James Murray, discovered that one man, Dr. W. C. Minor, had submitted more than ten thousand. When the committee insisted on honoring him, a shocking truth came to light: Dr. Minor, an American Civil War veteran, was also an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane. This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.
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Related Subjects:(18)
- Minor, William Chester.
- Murray, James A. H. -- (James Augustus Henry), -- 1837-1915 -- Friends and associates.
- Oxford English dictionary.
- New English dictionary on historical principles.
- Psychiatric hospital patients -- Great Britain -- Biography.
- Encyclopedias and dictionaries -- History and criticism.
- Lexicographers -- Great Britain -- Biography.
- English language -- Lexicography.
- English language -- Etymology.
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Veterans -- Biography.
- Murray, James A. H. -- (James Augustus Henry), -- 1837-1915.
- Encyclopedias and dictionaries.
- Friendship.
- Lexicographers.
- Psychiatric hospital patients.
- Veterans.
- Great Britain.
- United States.