The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary 2003 . The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary. By Simon Winchester 1998

• 1998 – The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (Published in the United States as The Professor and the Madman) – Dr. William Chester Minor and Sir James Murray
• 
  
• 2003 – The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary (the making of the Oxford English Dictionary)

The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Love of Words is a book by Simon Winchester that was first published in England in 1998. It was retitled The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary in the United States and Canada.

A little known fact is that the English language was not standardized until the 1800s with the publication of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1857. Etymologies, usages, and spellings had to be collected from all over England.

400,000 words and phrases were collected that filled ten volumes. The person we have to thank for many of the words collected—he completed the etymologies, usages, and spellings—was Dr. W. C. Minor: an American Civil War army surgeon held in Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital in England after being found guilty of murder. In fact, it was in the hospital that he did his work.

I highly recommend the book:

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary. By Simon Winchester

EN.M.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

The Surgeon of Crowthorne - Wikipedia

The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Love of Words is a book by Simon Winchester that was first published in England in 1998. It was retitled The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary in the United States and Can...

3939

11則留言

8次分享

讚

留言

分享

台灣翻譯領先數年出版

The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester 260pp, Oxford, £12.99