Some people consult dictionaries, others read them, while many do both. I belong to the last group and my word book de préférence is the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).
As I described in an earlier post, there's been a member of the OED family in my house. And I used one of my first pay cheques to procure a hardcover Concise Oxford Dictionary I could call my very own. As a translator, I've acquired many dictionaries: technical, specialized, bilingual, bilingual technical and bilingual specialized. But none has replaced the my OED family.
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| Courtesy amazon.ca |
I began reading about the OED when a family member lent me an amazing paperback, Simon Winchester's The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (aka The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary).
"Winchester['s] elegant and scrupulous retelling [of ] The Professor and the Madman, proves ... to be more complicated [and] stranger ... than the yarn that preceded it. ...[T]here is also a cruel irony in the fact that today's ... treatment and drug therapy might have removed [Dr Minor's] symptoms." David Walton (New York Times)
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| Courtesy simonwinchester |
After reading the sad tale of Dr WC Minor one of the Dictionary's most prolific volunteers, I moved on to its context, The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary. I'd never thought of the OED as special before reading its history, but now I have an inkling into why I prefer this attempt at all-inclusiveness to the competition.
"[The Meaning of Everything] is a fascinating history. ... [Winchester] is particularly entertaining when describing the vast and quirky brigade of unpaid readers who supplied the material for the dictionary's famous 'slips'. ...[A] more recondite but equally pleasurable account of the dictionary itself." Andrew Rosenheim (Independent)
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| Courtesy tolkienlibrary |
Once I discovered The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary was about to be published, I set about inviting one into my home. I still find the concept of an entirely invented language, words, grammar, syntax -- the works, amazing. The idea that Tolkien began as a small child is mind-boggling.
"[The authors] are in a perfect position [being] among the current editors of the dictionary ... [A] book that is effortless to read, appealing to the layman as much as an academic. I would happily reccomend this book." (tolkeinlibrary.com)
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| Courtesy amazon.com |
It was serendipity that put Caught in the Web of Words: James Murray and the Oxford English Dictionary into my hands one day as I trolled through row-upon-row of remaindered volumes. A biography, this is the Murray family's tale of the OED's genesis. It adds a wonderful dimension to The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary.
"Drawing on both family papers and the archives of the OED, [the book] is a sensitive, perceptive appraisal, showing the complicated interrelationships of institutions and personalities." Raven I McDavid, Jr (Modern Philology, Vol 77, No 4)
James Murray and his team worked in the "Scriptorium", a too-small, damp structure purpose-built in his back yard. And you had always imagined dictionaries were created in the refined and rarefied air of an exclusively small number of ivory towers.
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♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (aka The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary) Worth reading for both Dr Minor's tale as well as the OED's. An extraordinary partnership.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary. The amazing story of the epitome of dictionaries. Seventy years in the making with a third now in production.
♥ ♥ ♥ The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary. Tolkien was one of several now famous people who helped bring the OED to fruition. Known to many as a novelist, his true love was language.
♥ ♥ ♥ Caught in the Web of Words: James Murray and the Oxford English Dictionary. James Murray is synonymous with the OED. This biography is his granddaughter's take on the tale.
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Books mentioned- Concise Oxford Dictionary
- The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (aka The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary)
- The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary
- The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary
- Caught in the Web of Words: James Murray and the Oxford English Dictionary
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