x dismiss this message
Did you know you can edit this page?
-
Sign Into Shelfari
-
Choose something to edit
-
Save your contributions
see page history
Description edit
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... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Summary edit
The story of the 70 year process of compiling for first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary and the relationship between the primary editor, Dr James Murray and the most proflific contributor, the institutionalised and certifiably insane, Dr W.C. Minor.(WTF I bought a cert stated I am... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)
People edit
- Wiliam Chester Minor: Add a description of this character.
- Dr. W. C. Minor: The genius "madman", who contributed in an almost obsessive manner to the definitions for the new dictionary. Nobody knew for years that he was sending them in from an insane asylum...and he truly was insane. Wait til you find out what he does to himself!
- Professor James Murray: He is in charge of organizing and getting the dictionary made, a years long project. Little does he know how important one prolific contributor of exacting definitions is!
- Samuel Johnson: "Literature's Great Cham." Writer and editor of "A Dicitonary of the English Language"; which is acknowledged as the first dictionary, in the modern sense, ever published. As a note, "A Dictionary of the English Language" was published on 15 April 1755.
- Furnivall: Editor of the OED before James Murray took over. Furnivall was as much known for his ploymath interests as he was for his womanizing and sculling -- rowing. Furnivall is also known to be the basis of the character Water Rat in Kenneth Grahame's "A Wind in the Willows".
- Brayn: Supervisor of Broadmoor during the final leg of Dr. Minor's stay.Known for being strict, but fair. Took over after Dr. Nicholson retired.
- William Shakespeare: English, one of the best known playwrights.
- George Merrett: George Merrett, a stoker at the Red Lion Brewery in Lambeth, who was caught up in Minor's madness. Thinking Merrett was one of his imaginary tormentors, Minor shot and killed him, an act which precipitated his being sent to Broadmoor Asylum.
- Alfred
- Eliza Merrett: Widow of Minor's victim, George Merrett. She forgave him and visited him several times in Broadmoor, often bringing with her the shipments of rare books he ordered from London.
- Nicholson
- Lady Murray
Quotes edit
-
“"It seems this is non-fiction, yet it reads like fiction, very interesting"”
reviewer who quote (whether she knows it or not, is the epitome or irony) (epitome=biggerest) -
“"some of the best sentences in the world end with prepositions"”
the madman -
“"two years difference in age does not an uncle make"”
the madman -
“"indeed"”
the guy I wrongly muderedid
- Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
-
It was an essential credo for any future dictionary maker, he said, to realize that a dictionary was simply “an inventory of the language” and decidedly not a guide to proper usage.
Highlighted by 34 Kindle customers -
It took more than seventy years to create the twelve tombstonesize volumes that made up the first edition of what was to become the great Oxford English Dictionary.
Highlighted by 32 Kindle customers -
And while Samuel Johnson and his team had taken six years to create their triumph, those involved in making what was to be, and still is, the ultimate English dictionary took seventy years almost to the day.
Highlighted by 31 Kindle customers -
Latin—“Nihil est melius quam vita diligentissima” (Nothing is better than a most diligent life).
Highlighted by 29 Kindle customers -
“No language as depending on arbitrary use and custom can ever be permanently the same, but will always be in a mutable and fluctuating state; and what is deem’d polite and elegant in one age, may be accounted uncouth and barbarous in another.”
Highlighted by 29 Kindle customers -
The OED’s guiding principle, the one that has set it apart from most other dictionaries, is its rigorous dependence on gathering quotations from published or otherwise recorded uses of English and using them to illustrate the use of the sense of every single word in the language.
Highlighted by 29 Kindle customers -
“Treat me as a solar myth, or an echo, or an irrational quantity, or ignore me altogether.”
Highlighted by 26 Kindle customers -
These days it is called Sri Lanka; once the Arab sea traders called it Serendib, and in the eighteenth century Horace Walpole created a fanciful story about three princes who reigned there, and who had the enchanting habit of stumbling across wonderful things quite by chance. Thus was the English language enriched by the word serendipity, without its inventor, who never traveled to the East, ever really knowing why.
Highlighted by 24 Kindle customers -
tocsin note, remarked that his moral character was “unexceptional.”
Highlighted by 7 Kindle customers -
postlapsarian treasure island, where every sensual gift of the tropics is available, both to reward temptation and to beguile and charm. So there are cinnamon and coconut, coffee and tea; there are sapphires and rubies, mangoes and cashews, elephants and leopards; and everywhere a rich, hot, sweetly moist breeze, scented by the sea, spices, and blossoms.
Highlighted by 3 Kindle customers
Setting & Locations edit
- London
- Oxford
- New England
- Lambeth
- Broadmoor
- United States
- Crowthorne
- New York
- New Haven, Connecticut
- Washington, D.C.
- Connecticut
- Belvedere Road
- Ireland
- Ceylon
- Tarrant
- Scotland
- Mill Hill
- Scriptorium
- Virginia
- Europe
- Yale
- India
- Boston
- Paris
- Great Britain
- Florida
First Sentence edit
In Victorian London, even in a place as louche and notoriously crime-ridden as Lambeth Marsh, the sound of gunshots was a rare event indeed.
Table of Contents edit
Preface
1. The Dead of Night in Lambeth Marsh
2. The Man Who Taught Latin to Cattle
3. The Madness of War
4. Gathering Earth's Daughters
5. The Big Dictionary Conceived
6. The Scholar in Cell Block Two
7. Entering the Lists
8. Annulated, Art, Brick-Tea, Buckwheat
9.The Meeting of Minds
10. The Unkindest Cut
11. Then Only the Monuments
Postscript
Author's Note
Acknowledgements
Suggestions for Further Reading
Glossary edit
- Autopeotomy: The surgical removal of one's own penis.
Series & Lists edit
This book is in KCPL Discussion Kit (Aug2010). (community list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Simon Winchester (Author)
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: 1999
ISBN: 0060839783
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Country: Add the country of publication.
Publication Date: 1999
ISBN: 0060839783
Page Count: 288
Awards edit
- National Book Critics Circle Award (Finalist, 1998: General Nonfiction)
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: PE1617.O94W56
- Dewey: 423.092
Subjects edit
- Books › Biographies & Memoirs › Historical › United States
- Books › Reference › Encyclopedias › Art
- Books › Reference › Dictionaries & Thesauruses › English
- Books › Biographies & Memoirs › Arts & Literature › Authors
- Books › Biographies & Memoirs › Specific Groups › Special Needs
- Books › Biographies & Memoirs › Historical › British
- Books › Reference › Words & Language
Popular Tags
See all 50 tags
More Books Like This edit
Books That Cite This Book edit
We’re hiding the movie connections, books that influenced this book, books influenced by this book and books cited by this book sections. If you would like to add content to them, you must first make them visible.
