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Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary

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Published in Lesson Plan The Professor And The Madman: A Tale Of Murder Insanity And The Making Of The Oxford English Dictionary By Simon Winchester

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Lesson Plan The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

by Ignatius "Spud" Shoestring

4 out of 5

Language	:	English
File size	:	431 KB
Text-to-Speech	:	Enabled
Enhanced typesetting	:	Enabled
Lending	:	Enabled
Screen Reader	:	Supported
Print length	:	342 pages

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is one of the most comprehensive and authoritative dictionaries in the world. It contains over 600,000 words and phrases, with over 2.5 million illustrative quotations from a wide range of sources. The OED is an essential tool for scholars, writers, and anyone else who wants to understand the English language.

But the story behind the creation of the OED is just as fascinating as the dictionary itself. It is a tale of murder, insanity, and the dedication of a brilliant team of scholars.

The Murder

In 1871, Dr. James Murray, a Scottish philologist, was appointed editor of the OED. Murray was a brilliant scholar, but he was also a man of great ambition. He wanted to create a dictionary that would be the definitive work on the English language. To do this, he needed to collect millions of words and phrases from a wide range of sources.

Murray hired a team of scholars to help him with this task. One of these scholars was William Chester Minor, a former army surgeon who had been declared insane after killing his father. Minor was a brilliant linguist, and he proved to be a valuable asset to the OED project.

But Minor was also a deeply troubled man. He suffered from delusions of persecution and believed that he was being spied on by the government. In 1889, Minor was arrested for murdering a woman who he believed had been spying on him.

Minor's murder trial was a sensation. The jury found him insane and he was sent to a mental hospital. But even from the hospital, Minor continued to work on the OED. He read thousands of books and sent Murray hundreds of thousands of slips of paper with new words and phrases.

The Insanity

Minor's story is a tragic one. He was a brilliant scholar who was ultimately destroyed by his mental illness. But his contributions to the OED are undeniable. He was one of the most important members of the team that created the dictionary, and his work helped to make it the definitive work on the English language.

The OED is a testament to the power of scholarship. It is a work that was created by a team of brilliant scholars, including a man who was declared insane. The OED is a reminder that even the most troubled minds can make a valuable contribution to the world.

The Making of the Oxford English Dictionary

The OED was a massive undertaking. It took over 70 years to complete, and it involved the work of hundreds of scholars. The dictionary was finally published in 1928, and it has since become an indispensable tool for scholars, writers, and anyone else who wants to understand the English language.

The OED is a testament to the power of human endeavor. It is a work that was created by a team of dedicated scholars, who overcame many obstacles to create a work that has had a profound impact on the world.

Lesson Plan The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

by Ignatius "Spud" Shoestring

4 out of 5