Search - The Professor And The Madman: A Tale Of Murder, Insanity, And The Making Of The Oxford English Dictionary

This is a wonderful, and slightly twisted, book on the making of the Oxford English Dictionary. It's full of history and all sorts of interesting linguistic tidbits for other geeks like me.

A very interesting tale, for those who are interested in the quaint and unusual, or in the history of the English language. This book chronicles the lives of two of the key contributors to the monumental acheivement known as the Oxford English Dictionary; Professor Murray, its first truly effective editor, and Dr. Minor, a schizophrenic American who contributed greatly to the content of the dictionary from his cell in an English asylum for the criminally insane.

While the book is worth a read, be forewarned: Winchester tends to be overly verbose and the text can drag at times--especially towards the end, with its several additional chapters.

Being a lover of words I really enjoyed a look into some of the history of the OED.

Wikipedia--19th Century-style. A fascinating story, told by a master!

I really enjoyed reading this book. I knew nothing about the Oxford Dictionary, much less about the people involved in the making/writing of it. I am going to try and get some more of his books.