The professor and the madman: a tale of murder, insanity, and the making of the Oxford English dictionary
(Book)
The creation of the Oxford English Dictionary began in 1857, took seventy years to complete, drew from tens of thousands of brilliant minds, and organized the sprawling language into 414,825 precise definitions. But hidden within the rituals of its creation is a fascinating and mysterious story - a story of two remarkable men whose strange twenty-year relationship lies at the core of this historic undertaking. Professor James Murray, an astonishingly learned former schoolmaster and bank clerk, was the distinguished editor of the OED project. Dr. William Chester Minor, an American surgeon from New Haven, Connecticut, who had served in the Civil War, was one of thousands of contributors who submitted illustrative quotations of words to be used in the dictionary. But Minor was no ordinary contributor. He was remarkably prolific, sending thousands of neat, handwritten quotations from his home in the small village of Crowthorne, fifty miles from Oxford. On numerous occasions Murray invited Minor to visit Oxford and celebrate his work, but Murray's offer was regularly - and mysteriously - refused. Thus the two men, for two decades, maintained a close relationship only through correspondence. Finally, in 1896, after Minor had sent nearly ten thousand definitions to the dictionary but had still never traveled from his home, a puzzled Murray set out to visit him. It was then that Murray finally learned the truth about Minor - that, in addition to being a masterful wordsmith, Minor was also a murderer, clinically insane - and locked up in Broadmoor, England's harshest asylum for criminal lunatics.
English language -- Lexicography -- History -- 19th century.
Lexicographers -- Great Britain -- Biography.
Minor, William Chester.
Murray, James A. H. -- (James Augustus Henry), -- 1837-1915.
New English dictionary on historical principles.
Oxford English dictionary.
Psychiatric hospital patients -- Great Britain -- Biography.
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Veterans -- Biography.
Biography.
English language -- Etymology.
English language -- Lexicography.
Great Britain.
History.
Lexicographers.
Minor, William Chester.
Murray, James A. H. -- (James Augustus Henry), -- 1837-1915.
New English dictionary on historical principles.
Oxford English dictionary.
Psychiatric hospital patients.
United States.
Veterans.
Anglais (Langue) -- Lexicographie.
Anglais (Langue) -- Étymologie.
Biographies.
Biography.
Encyclopédies et dictionnaires anglais -- Histoire et critique.
English language -- Lexicography.
English.
Entstehung.
Lexicographes -- Grande-Bretagne -- Biographies.
Lexicographes -- Grande-Bretagne -- Biographies.
Minor, William Chester, -- 1834-1920.
Minor, William Chester.
Murray, James Augustus Henry, -- (1837-1915)
Murray, James Augustus Henry, -- Sir, -- 1837-1915 -- Amis et relations.
Murray, James Augustus Henry.
Oxford English dictionary -- Histoire.
Oxford English dictionary.
Oxford English dictionary.
Patients dans les hôpitaux psychiatriques -- Angleterre -- Biographies.
Patients dans les hôpitaux psychiatriques -- Grande-Bretagne -- Biographies.
États-Unis -- Histoire -- 1861-1865 (Guerre de Sécession) -- Anciens combattants -- Biographies.
Notes
Winchester, S. (1998). The professor and the madman: a tale of murder, insanity, and the making of the Oxford English dictionary. New York, HarperCollins Publishers.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Winchester, Simon. 1998. The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary. New York, HarperCollins Publishers.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Winchester, Simon, The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary. New York, HarperCollins Publishers, 1998.
MLA Citation (style guide)Winchester, Simon. The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary. New York, HarperCollins Publishers, 1998.
Record Information
Last Sierra Extract Time | Apr 28, 2024 06:05:32 AM |
---|---|
Last File Modification Time | Apr 28, 2024 06:12:16 AM |
Last Grouped Work Modification Time | May 14, 2024 08:50:54 PM |
MARC Record
LEADER | 10531cam a2201465 a 4500 | ||
---|---|---|---|
001 | 38425992 | ||
003 | OCoLC | ||
005 | 20180220035231.0 | ||
008 | 980128s1998 nyua b 000 0deng | ||
010 | |a 98010204 | ||
016 | 7 | |a BA40420978|2 JP-ToKJK | |
019 | |a 777418975 | ||
020 | |a 0060175966 | ||
020 | |a 9780060175962 | ||
020 | |a 9780060839789 | ||
020 | |a 0060839783 | ||
020 | |a 006099486X | ||
020 | |a 9780060994860 | ||
035 | |a (OCoLC)38425992|z (OCoLC)777418975 | ||
040 | |a DLC|b eng|c DLC|d NOR|d MUQ|d BAKER|d BTCTA|d DST|d YDXCP|d G8V|d KAAUA|d UBC|d ZWZ|d GEBAY|d BDX|d OCLCF|d WIC|d OCL|d OCLCO|d OCLCQ|d OCLCO|d OCL|d FC@|d PX0|d XFF|d DML|d OCLCO|d C@V|d OCLCO|d VGM|d CHILD|d CSA|d CSJ|d TFW|d T7F|d OCLCO|d CS1|d OCLCO|d TXSVP | ||
043 | |a e-uk---|a n-us--- | ||
049 | |a HEVA | ||
050 | 0 | 0 | |a PE1617.O94|b W56 1998 |
082 | 0 | 0 | |a 423/.092|2 21 |
100 | 1 | |a Winchester, Simon.|0 https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50015793 | |
245 | 1 | 4 | |a The professor and the madman :|b a tale of murder, insanity, and the making of the Oxford English dictionary /|c Simon Winchester. |
250 | |a 1st ed. | ||
264 | 1 | |a New York :|b HarperCollins Publishers,|c [1998] | |
264 | 4 | |c ©1998 | |
300 | |a xi, 242 pages :|b illustrations ;|c 22 cm | ||
336 | |a text|b txt|2 rdacontent | ||
337 | |a unmediated|b n|2 rdamedia | ||
338 | |a volume|b nc|2 rdacarrier | ||
504 | |a Includes bibliographical references (pages 239-242). | ||
505 | 0 | 0 | |g 1.|t Dead of night in Lambeth Marsh --|g 2.|t Man who taught Latin to cattle --|g 3.|t Madness of war --|g 4.|t Gathering Earth's daughters --|g 5.|t Big dictionary conceived --|g 6.|t Scholar in cell block two --|g 7.|t Entering the lists --|g 8.|t Annulated, art, brick-tea, buckwheat --|g 9.|t Meeting of minds --|g 10.|t Unkindest cut --|g 11.|t Then only the monuments. |
520 | |a The creation of the Oxford English Dictionary began in 1857, took seventy years to complete, drew from tens of thousands of brilliant minds, and organized the sprawling language into 414,825 precise definitions. But hidden within the rituals of its creation is a fascinating and mysterious story - a story of two remarkable men whose strange twenty-year relationship lies at the core of this historic undertaking. Professor James Murray, an astonishingly learned former schoolmaster and bank clerk, was the distinguished editor of the OED project. Dr. William Chester Minor, an American surgeon from New Haven, Connecticut, who had served in the Civil War, was one of thousands of contributors who submitted illustrative quotations of words to be used in the dictionary. But Minor was no ordinary contributor. He was remarkably prolific, sending thousands of neat, handwritten quotations from his home in the small village of Crowthorne, fifty miles from Oxford. On numerous occasions Murray invited Minor to visit Oxford and celebrate his work, but Murray's offer was regularly - and mysteriously - refused. Thus the two men, for two decades, maintained a close relationship only through correspondence. Finally, in 1896, after Minor had sent nearly ten thousand definitions to the dictionary but had still never traveled from his home, a puzzled Murray set out to visit him. It was then that Murray finally learned the truth about Minor - that, in addition to being a masterful wordsmith, Minor was also a murderer, clinically insane - and locked up in Broadmoor, England's harshest asylum for criminal lunatics. | ||
600 | 1 | 0 | |a Murray, James A. H.|q (James Augustus Henry),|d 1837-1915.|0 https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n82072956 |
600 | 1 | 0 | |a Minor, William Chester.|0 https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n98010316 |
600 | 1 | 6 | |a Murray, James Augustus Henry,|c Sir,|d 1837-1915|x Amis et relations. |
600 | 1 | 6 | |a Minor, William Chester,|d 1834-1920. |
600 | 1 | 7 | |a Minor, William Chester.|2 fast|0 (OCoLC)fst00412394 |
600 | 1 | 7 | |a Murray, James A. H.|q (James Augustus Henry),|d 1837-1915.|2 fast|0 (OCoLC)fst01898763 |
600 | 1 | 7 | |a Murray, James Augustus Henry,|d (1837-1915)|2 ram |
600 | 1 | 7 | |a Murray, James Augustus Henry.|2 swd |
600 | 1 | 7 | |a Minor, William Chester.|2 swd |
611 | 2 | 7 | |a American Civil War (1861-1865)|2 fast|0 (OCoLC)fst01351658 |
630 | 0 | 0 | |a Oxford English dictionary.|0 https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85201132 |
630 | 0 | 0 | |a New English dictionary on historical principles.|0 https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no95002678 |
630 | 0 | 6 | |a Oxford English dictionary|x Histoire. |
630 | 0 | 7 | |a New English dictionary on historical principles.|2 fast|0 (OCoLC)fst01361405 |
630 | 0 | 7 | |a Oxford English dictionary.|2 fast|0 (OCoLC)fst01363319 |
630 | 0 | 7 | |a Oxford English dictionary.|2 ram |
630 | 0 | 7 | |a Oxford English dictionary.|2 swd |
648 | 7 | |a 1800-1899|2 fast | |
650 | 0 | |a English language|x Lexicography|x History|0 https://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2009124983|y 19th century.|0 https://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2002012475 | |
650 | 0 | |a Lexicographers|z Great Britain|v Biography.|0 https://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2008106920 | |
650 | 0 | |a Psychiatric hospital patients|z Great Britain|v Biography.|0 https://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2010108727 | |
650 | 0 | |a English language|x Etymology.|0 https://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85043529 | |
650 | 1 | |a English language|0 https://id.loc.gov/authorities/childrensSubjects/sj96005410|x Lexicography.|0 https://id.loc.gov/authorities/childrensSubjects/sh99005001 | |
650 | 6 | |a Patients dans les hôpitaux psychiatriques|z Angleterre|v Biographies. | |
650 | 6 | |a Encyclopédies et dictionnaires anglais|x Histoire et critique. | |
650 | 6 | |a Lexicographes|z Grande-Bretagne|v Biographies. | |
650 | 6 | |a Anglais (Langue)|x Lexicographie. | |
650 | 6 | |a Anglais (Langue)|x Étymologie. | |
650 | 7 | |a English language|x Etymology.|2 fast|0 (OCoLC)fst00911149 | |
650 | 7 | |a English language|x Lexicography.|2 fast|0 (OCoLC)fst00911326 | |
650 | 7 | |a Lexicographers.|2 fast|0 (OCoLC)fst00997019 | |
650 | 7 | |a Psychiatric hospital patients.|2 fast|0 (OCoLC)fst01081030 | |
650 | 7 | |a Veterans.|2 fast|0 (OCoLC)fst01165710 | |
650 | 7 | |a Patients dans les hôpitaux psychiatriques|z Grande-Bretagne|x Biographies.|2 ram | |
650 | 7 | |a Lexicographes|z Grande-Bretagne|x Biographies.|2 ram | |
650 | 7 | |a Anglais (langue)|x Lexicographie.|2 ram | |
650 | 7 | |a Entstehung.|2 gnd|0 (DE-588)4156614-2 | |
651 | 0 | |a United States|x History|y Civil War, 1861-1865|0 https://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85140205|x Veterans|0 https://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2002006447|v Biography.|0 https://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh99001237 | |
651 | 6 | |a États-Unis|x Histoire|y 1861-1865 (Guerre de Sécession)|x Anciens combattants|v Biographies. | |
651 | 7 | |a Great Britain.|2 fast|0 (OCoLC)fst01204623 | |
651 | 7 | |a United States.|2 fast|0 (OCoLC)fst01204155 | |
653 | |a Oxford English dictionary | ||
653 | |a Murray, James Augustus Henry, Sir, 1837-1915 -- Friends and associates | ||
653 | |a United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Veterans -- Biography | ||
653 | |a Psychiatric hospital patients -- Great Britain -- Biography | ||
653 | |a New English dictionary on historical principles | ||
653 | |a Lexicographers -- Great Britain -- Biography | ||
653 | |a English language -- Lexicography | ||
653 | |a English language -- Etymology | ||
653 | |a Minor, William Chester | ||
655 | 7 | |a Biography.|2 fast|0 (OCoLC)fst01423686 | |
655 | 7 | |a History.|2 fast|0 (OCoLC)fst01411628 | |
655 | 2 | |a Biography.|0 https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D019215 | |
655 | 2 | |a English. | |
655 | 7 | |a Biographies.|2 lcgft|0 https://id.loc.gov/authorities/genreForms/gf2014026049 | |
856 | 4 | 2 | |3 Contributor biographical information|u http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0911/98010204-b.html |
856 | 4 | 2 | |3 Publisher description|u http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/description/hc042/98010204.html |
856 | 4 | 2 | |3 Booknotes episode and transcript:|u http://www.booknotes.org/Watch/112280-1/Simon+Winchester.aspx|z Program air date: November 8, 1998 |
856 | |3 URL|u http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/description/hc042/9801024.html | ||
907 | |a .b1093179x | ||
948 | |a MARCIVE Comp, in 2022.12 | ||
948 | |a MARCIVE Q2, 2018 | ||
948 | |a MARCIVE August, 2017 | ||
948 | |a MARCIVE extract Aug 5, 2017 | ||
989 | |1 .i11255663|b 1230000964852|d tlwnf|g -|m |h 51|x 0|t 2|i 15|j 7|k 010627|n 02-21-2024 18:07|o -|a 423|r WIN | ||
989 | |1 .i11801281|b 1270000474428|d gugnf|g -|m |h 49|x 0|t 1|i 7|j 300|k 010627|n 02-23-2024 20:49|o -|a 423.09|r Win | ||
989 | |1 .i15092264|b 1080004748956|d culmb|g -|m |h 17|x 2|t 2|i 1|j 18|k 010630|n 02-21-2024 18:13|o -|a PE1617.O94|r W56 1998 | ||
989 | |1 .i19022207|b 1130002412198|d pc|g -|m |h 85|x 3|t 1|i 14|j 2|k 010630|n 02-21-2024 18:42|o -|a 423|r W759 | ||
989 | |1 .i35919437|b 1060002961311|d eve|g t|m |h 14|x 3|t 3|i 10|j 70|k 030506|n 02-21-2024 18:05|o -|a 423.092|r WIN | ||
989 | |1 .i38934887|b 1240051717578|d ssbnf|g -|m |h 51|x 1|t 1|i 74|j 7|k 030910|n 02-21-2024 18:04|o -|a 423|r WIN | ||
989 | |1 .i40127461|b 1170003565619|d wsst|g -|m |h 4|x 0|t 1|i 1|j 18|k 031126|n 01-30-2024 16:36|o -|a PE1617.O94|r W57 1998|u 1170002838596018wsstSTACKS PE1617.O94 W57 199809089 | ||
989 | |1 .i124449475|b 31813002098993|d bebio|g -|m |h 59|x 0|t 1|i 4|j 300|k 190216|n 02-21-2024 18:07|o -|a B MURRAY,J WINCHEST | ||
989 | |1 .i125714002|b 31526080312512|d epnf|g n|m 220707|h 5|x 0|t 0|i 5|j 2|k 190626|n 07-01-2021 15:37|o -|a 423|r WINCHESTER, SIMON | ||
989 | |1 .i126940137|b 1110002061711|d mrlal|g r|m |h 27|x 1|t 1|i 6|j 300|k 191011|n 03-01-2024 18:09|o -|a 423 Win | ||
989 | |1 .i131059610|b 1270001625111|d gucnf|g -|m 240522|h 6|x 1|t 2|i 6|j 300|k 200715|n 02-24-2024 21:01|o -|a 423|r Win | ||
989 | |1 .i133637839|b 3325300096554|d ddanf|g -|m |h 16|x 0|t 1|i 1|j 300|k 201210|n 02-21-2024 18:04|o -|a 423 WINCHESTER | ||
989 | |1 .i133637840|b 3325300070181|d dhanf|g -|m |h 13|x 0|t 0|i 0|j 300|k 201210|n 02-18-2020 11:00|o -|a 423.09 WINCHEST | ||
989 | |1 .i143698114|b 3120210005293S|d bvabn|g -|m |h 5|x 2|t 2|i 4|j 7|k 220809|n 03-06-2024 21:23|o |a 423.09|r Win | ||
994 | |a C0|b HEV | ||
995 | |a Loaded with m2btab.ltiac in 2022.12 | ||
995 | |a Loaded with m2btab.ltiac in 2018.08 | ||
995 | 0 | 0 | |a Exported from Connexion by Bud Werner and loaded with m2btab.b in 2018.02 |
995 | |a Loaded with m2btab.ltiac in 2017.09 | ||
995 | |a Initial Bemis load m2btab.test019 in 2019.02 | ||
995 | |a Loaded with m2btab.click in 2019.06 | ||
995 | |a Loaded with m2btab.msc in 2019.06 | ||
995 | |a Loaded with m2btab.migrate in 2019.10 | ||
995 | |a Loaded with m2btab.migrate 2020.12 | ||
998 | |e -|f eng|a be|a bv|a cu|a d|a ep|a ev|a eve|a gu|a guc|a gug|a mr|a pc|a ss|a ssb|a tl|a tlw|a ws |