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Meaning of Everything The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary

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

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  • Synopses & Reviews

ISBN13: 9780195175004
ISBN10: 019517500X
Condition: Standard


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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

From the best-selling author of The Professor and the Madman, The Map That Changed the World, and Krakatoa comes a truly wonderful celebration of the English language and of its unrivaled treasure house, the Oxford English Dictionary.

Writing with marvelous brio, Winchester first serves up a lightning history of the English language — "so vast, so sprawling, so wonderfully unwieldy" — and pays homage to the great dictionary makers, from "the irredeemably famous" Samuel Johnson to the "short, pale, smug and boastful" schoolmaster from New Hartford, Noah Webster.

He then turns his unmatched talent for story-telling to the making of this most venerable of dictionaries. In this fast-paced narrative, the reader will discover lively portraits of such key figures as the brilliant but tubercular first editor Herbert Coleridge (grandson of the poet), the colorful, boisterous Frederick Furnivall (who left the project in a shambles), and James Augustus Henry Murray, who spent a half-century bringing the project to fruition. Winchester lovingly describes the nuts-and-bolts of dictionary making — how unexpectedly tricky the dictionary entry for marzipan was, or how fraternity turned out so much longer and monkey so much more ancient that anticipated — and how bondmaid was left out completely, its slips found lurking under a pile of books long after the B-volume had gone to press.

We visit the ugly corrugated iron structure that Murray grandly dubbed the Scriptorium — the Scrippy or the Shed, as locals called it — and meet some of the legion of volunteers, from Fitzedward Hall, a bitter hermit obsessively devoted to the OED, to W. C. Minor, whose story is one of dangerous madness, ineluctable sadness, and ultimate redemption.

The Meaning of Everything is a scintillating account of the creation of the greatest monument ever erected to a living language. Simon Winchester's supple, vigorous prose illuminates this dauntingly ambitious project — a seventy-year odyssey to create the grandfather of all word-books, the world's unrivalled uber-dictionary.

Review

"If you liked The Professor and the Madman, here's more. Fans and acquaintances of the OED will certainly enjoy this book, as will anyone who enjoys words. For instance, did you know that the combination of question mark and exclamation point is called an "interrobang"? Once more Winchester has taken a subject that might appear dry and breathed life into it." Doug Brown, Powells.com (read the entire Powells.com review)

Synopsis

Simon Winchester delivers an account of the seventy-year odyssey and key players behind the making of the unrivalled Oxford English Dictionary.

Synopsis

From the best-selling author of The Professor and the Madman, The Map That Changed the World, and Krakatoa comes a truly wonderful celebration of the English language and of its unrivaled treasure house, the Oxford English Dictionary.

Writing with marvelous brio, Winchester first serves up a lightning history of the English language--"so vast, so sprawling, so wonderfully unwieldy"--and pays homage to the great dictionary makers, from "the irredeemably famous" Samuel Johnson to the "short, pale, smug and boastful" schoolmaster from New Hartford, Noah Webster. He then turns his unmatched talent for story-telling to the making of this most venerable of dictionaries. In this fast-paced narrative, the reader will discover lively portraits of such key figures as the brilliant but tubercular first editor Herbert Coleridge (grandson of the poet), the colorful, boisterous Frederick Furnivall (who left the project in a shambles), and James Augustus Henry Murray, who spent a half-century bringing the project to fruition. Winchester lovingly describes the nuts-and-bolts of dictionary making--how unexpectedly tricky the dictionary entry for marzipan was, or how fraternity turned out so much longer and monkey so much more ancient than anticipated--and how bondmaid was left out completely, its slips found lurking under a pile of books long after the B-volume had gone to press. We visit the ugly corrugated iron structure that Murray grandly dubbed the Scriptorium--the Scrippy or the Shed, as locals called it--and meet some of the legion of volunteers, from Fitzedward Hall, a bitter hermit obsessively devoted to the OED, to W. C. Minor, whose story is one of dangerous madness, ineluctable sadness, and ultimate redemption.

The Meaning of Everything is a scintillating account of the creation of the greatest monument ever erected to a living language. Simon Winchester's supple, vigorous prose illuminates this dauntingly ambitious project--a seventy-year odyssey to create the grandfather of all word-books, the world's unrivalled uber-dictionary.


About the Author

"Teeming with knowledge and alive with insights. Winchester handles humor and awe with modesty and cunning. His devotion to the story is the more eloquent for the cool-handedness of its telling. His prose is supremely readable, admirable in its lucid handling of lexicographical mire."--William F. Buckley, New York Times Book Review

"The extraordinary story of the making of the Oxford English Dictionary is a subject perfectly suited to Winchester's magpie mind.... Winchester's account is an affectionate and frankly partisan study of the making of a great dictionary. It is also an offbeat portrait of an extraordinary society."--Robert McCrumm, Los Angeles Times

"Devastatingly brilliant.... Fascinating, witty, extremely well-written.... Winchester makes words exciting. He obviously loves them."--Rochelle O'Gorman, The Boston Globe

"Winchester brings to life the trials and tribulations of creating the OED, particularly the never-dull personalities of those who were involved. Moreover, he delightfully, admiringly gives us an appreciation of the wonderfully adaptive, ever-expanding English language.... A story that could have been stultifyingly dull is fascinatingly told, with a verve and reverence for the English language that would have won huzzahs from Shakspere (Murray's favored spelling) himself."--Forbes Magazine

"As inspiring as it is informative, Simon Winchester's history of what it took to assemble the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary is both a dazzling detective story and a poignant group portrait. A must-read for every language lover."--Seattle Times

"An inspired story of conflict, madness, genius, and inspiration so amusing that at times it reads like fiction--but it isn't."--Library Journal (starred review)

"Like Longitude...a story of extraordinary endurance."--Clive Davis, The Wilson Quarterly

"Winchester tells the story with great verve in an easy-going, anecdotal style that's delectably readable."--Christian Science Monitor

"Full of engaging characters and incidents."--Wall Street Journal

"Winchester has no peer at illuminating massive and complex endeavors through the quirks and foibles of the brilliant and powerful personalities who carry them out."--Chicago Sun Times

"A magnificent account, swift and compelling, of obsession, scholarship, and ultimately, philanthropy of the first magnitude."--Kirkus Review (starred review)


Table of Contents

Prologue
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
1 Taking the Measure of it All
2 The Construction of the Pigeonholes
3 The General Officer Commanding
4 Battling the Undertow
5 Pushing through the Untrodden Forest
6 So Heavily Goes the Chariot
7 The Hermit and the Murderer — and Hereward Thimbleby Price
8 From Take to Turndown — and then, Triumphal Valediction
Epilogue
Bibliography

5 1

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating 5 (1 comments)

`
New Jersey reader , December 24, 2010 (view all comments by New Jersey reader)
Simon Winchester relates the fascinating history of the OED, from the proposal that started it in 1857, through the publication of the first edition in 1928, the 2nd edition in 1989, and the on-going work for the 3rd edition. The book also reviews prior lexicographic history, including Samuel Johnson's 1755 dictionary, and Noah Webster's 1828 American version, among others. The main part of the book is the story of James Murray, who spent the last 37 years of his life supervising the vast amount of work leading to the 1928 first edition. With our understanding and dependence on modern technology, it seems incredible that this huge reference work could ever have been created with the primitive pencil & paper tools that Murray had available. Winchester's writing is clear and to-the-point, and provides vivid images of all the major and some of the minor players in the dictionary saga, as well as accounts of the various crises that threatened the work's completion. Reading this account is great fun, and gives a real insight into the process of constructing a book that attempts to explain "the meaning of everything".

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780195175004
Binding:
Trade Paperback
Publication date:
10/14/2004
Publisher:
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Pages:
288
Height:
.72IN
Width:
4.94IN
Thickness:
.25
Number of Units:
1
Illustration:
Yes
Copyright Year:
2004
Author:
Simon null
Author:
Simon Winchester
Author:
Simon Winchester
Subject:
Great britain
Subject:
History, World | British | 19th C

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