![]() The underlying stories of WC Minor and James Murray are extremely interesting, in their parallels and divergences, and the story of how an inmate at a Victorian insane asylum came to be one of the most effective contributors to the OED is extremely interesting and could easily take up 18 chapters by itself. I wanted to like this book so much more than I did I will need to purchase this book in a tangible tomb to enjoy it all over again. ![]() This is a facinating tale, one which causes a renewed appreciation for the great Oxford English Dictionary, read by the author with the exact pitch, pace and power required. This story focuses primarily on three men who devoted their lives to this exercise in endurance, one involuntarily and indirectly being Mr George Merritt (English) one with captured time Mr William Merritt (American) and a methodical and meticulous Scotsman, Mr James Murray (later knighted). ![]() ![]() ![]() What is English? What meanings do words have? Is grammar important? How are dictionaries made and more importantly how was the greatest English dictionary ever compiled, made? This is NOT a work of fiction, it is the true, well researched story of how the Oxford English Dictionary was meticulously, researched, compiled and willed into existence by many many English and American studious and diligent readers, compilers, editors, typesetters and a University that continued to believe in the absolute necessity to document the English language. ![]()
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