The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.) | 
|  | | | Title: | The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (P.S.) | | Author: | Simon Winchester | | Publisher: | Harper Perennial | | Type: | Book / Paperback | | Publication Date: | 01 July, 2005 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0060839783 / 9780060839789 | | List Price: | $13.95 | | You Save: | $2.79 | | Amazon Price: | $11.16 | |
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| Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
The Professor and the Madman, masterfully researched and eloquently written, is an extraordinary tale of madness, genius, and the incredible obsessions of two remarkable men that led to the making of the Oxford English Dictionary -- and literary history. The compilation of the OED began in 1857, it was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken. As definitions were collected, the overseeing committee, led by Professor James Murray, discovered that one man, Dr. W. C. Minor, had submitted more than ten thousand. When the committee insisted on honoring him, a shocking truth came to light: Dr. Minor, an American Civil War veteran, was also an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane. This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.
Amazon.com Review
When the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary put out a call during the late 19th century pleading for "men of letters" to provide help with their mammoth undertaking, hundreds of responses came forth. Some helpers, like Dr. W.C. Minor, provided literally thousands of entries to the editors. But Minor, an American expatriate in England and a Civil War veteran, was actually a certified lunatic who turned in his dictionary entries from the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum. Simon Winchester has produced a mesmerizing coda to the deeply troubled Minor's life, a life that in one sense began with the senseless murder of an innocent British brewery worker that the deluded Minor believed was an assassin sent by one of his numerous "enemies." Winchester also paints a rich portrait of the OED's leading light, Professor James Murray, who spent more than 40 years of his life on a project he would not see completed in his lifetime. Winchester traces the origins of the drive to create a "Big Dictionary" down through Murray and far back into the past; the result is a fascinating compact history of the English language (albeit admittedly more interesting to linguistics enthusiasts than historians or true crime buffs). That Murray and Minor, whose lives took such wildly disparate turns yet were united in their fierce love of language, were able to view one another as peers and foster a warm friendship is just one of the delicately turned subplots of this compelling book. --Tjames Madison
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Customer Reviews:
• The Professor And The Madman 21 November, 2008
It is an interesting book, explaining how the Oxford English Dictionary was put together by volunteers supplying definitions and quotes for every word in the English language. In the back of the book is a call for additional volunteers to work on keeping the dictionary current! The man who made the largest number of contributions was Captain William Chester Minor, late of the United States Army, whose residence at the time he was making contributions was Broadmoor Asylum for the criminally Insane, Crowthorne, Berkshire. He was committed to Broadmoor for the murder of George Merrett in February 1872. Captain Minor suffered from what today would be diagnosed as Schizophrenia - although his problem was not diagnosed until 18 November 1918 after the British government formally returned the aged Civil War captain to the United States Army. Interestingly, the author makes the statement that schizophrenia, then called dementia praecox, is early onset Alzheimer's, or at least it was so believed in 1918.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1JQKR09IE2D4Z
• Informative And Darkly Hilarious! 10 December, 2008
I grabbed this one off the public library shelf on a whim. It looked like it might be really boring but as I was due in my reading regimen (3 books/week -- 2 fiction, one non-fiction) for a non-fiction read, this one seemed at least by its cover information to be informative.
What a rare and pleasant surprise! This book reads like a great fiction novel (and is a poster case that truth is stranger than fiction.) It's the story of James Murray, the editor of the original Oxford Dictionary, and his unending efforts to complete it. The parallel story is that of one of his notable contributors... Dr. William Minor, a convicted lunatic living in Broadmoor.
Of course Murray didn't realize that his most active and brilliant contibutor was completely insane and it's fortunate that he did not know this from the start because Dr. Minor ultimately made a huge contribution to this renowned work.
In any case, don't be put off by the subject matter. This is one of those rare books that nearly anyone would enjoy. It would also make a nice gift.
Highly recommended!
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1BA72K4VK1UN1
• Supplement, Addendum, Prequel, Sequel, Corollary 22 October, 2008
Though it was written before "The Meaning of Everything" it could easily serve as a chapter or appendix to the book. Winchester does a superb job of telling both the early history of the OED while at the same time setting down the 'odd' collaboration between Professor JAH Murray (of Oxford) and the Madman Dr. WC Minor (or the Broadmoor Lunatic Asylum). Their relationship was to span forty years and affect the OED in a way that no other relationship did.
Minor (who was an American Doctor and Civil War Veteran) had come to England to "try and get his head straight" after the horrors he saw during the Civil War. While in England he murders an innocent man and is sent to the 'Lunatic Asylum' for the rest of his life. While there he gets involved with the creation of the OED by sending in slips that demarcate word meanings and usage. His work (voluntary) is so specific and exact that he is asked by Murray to 'find' citations for certain words and to also look for earlier usages and meanings.
Murray finally meets Minor after seven years of correspondence an is amazed at the work this so called 'lunatic' has been able to send into the OED over a period of years. They never become what you would call 'fast friends' but do establish a corresponding association that is both respected and admired by all those who work on the OED.
I listened to this book on CD and found Winchester's reading of his own book to heighten the enjoyment of it. Knowing when to put emphasis on the proper parts of the book to specifically call your attention to a passage or section, made the book thoroughly enjoyabale.
Zeb Kantrowitz
- Reviewed by customer ID: AKB2PYODH0TKS
• A Fascinating Story Well Worth Your Time! 02 December, 2008
(This review is for the unabridged audio book, read by the author, Simon Winchester).
This is the tale of how the greatest and most definitive dictionary in the English language came to be, thanks to the unlikely crossing of paths between a British scholar and an American who was committed to a mental asylum. While the topic of dictionary-making may seem dull, this book weaves a tale of violence, the American Civil War, insanity, murder and Victorian England's sensibilities in a way that oddly makes for a very compelling read.
This being the very first audio book I've ever listened to, I have to say that it was an excellent way to spend a long-distance trip by car. And it's a fairly short "read" - as it only takes up 7 1/2 hours over the span of 6 discs (short by audio book standards).
The author has a mellifluous English accent that propels the story forward, while at the same time gently reminding the reader that most of the action in the story takes place in late-19th and early 20th century Britain (with large detours in the U.S. and occasionally elsewhere).
I highly recommend this book for anyone who has a remote interest in the etymology of words, reading or even dictionaries.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A6DYC8FKCQDTL
• Three-and-a-half Stars, Really. 12 October, 2008
The first time that I had ever heard about the Oxford English Dictionary, I was a freshman at Bryn Mawr-- straight from the sticks. I had tested out of needing to take the freshman English classes, and had plunged straightaway into classes that were aimed at upper classman. While eventually that turned out to be fine, my very first class was with a peach of a gentleman who clearly found me an unlettered barbarian who should have been sent back to the freshman comp classes-- or even worse. I was not only an unlettered barbarian, but a *stubborn* unlettered barbarian and we fought about absolutely everything. A little bit over midway through the semester, he marked me down on a paper because I used the word "meld". He scribbled in the margin: "Not a word!" Furious, I went to the library and came back with a popular dictionary and I held the entry for "meld" under his nose during his office hours. He icily slammed the book shut and glared at me. "If it is not in the Oxford English Dictionary," he said, "it is not a word!"
That began my lifelong love-hate relationship with the OED. At least with the idea of the OED. I've somehow never managed to acquire my own copy. (I keep telling B. that I'd love one for my birthday, but I'm pretty sure that he doesn't believe that I'm serious.) But still, The Professor and the Madman was kind of a natural for me. People have been recommending it to me ever since it appeared; I've had several offers to lend it to me (I don't borrow books); I've had it regularly suggested on Amazon. I finally picked up my own copy second-hand. And now, reader, I've finally read the book.
And-- honestly-- it's a little bit anticlimactic. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice book. It's one of these new breed of nonfiction books that read mostly like magazine articles writ large. Winchester delivers a very good magazine article writ large. It is surely entertaining, very interesting, decently written and a good story. What else could you want?
I would have *perhaps* wanted a little more about the history of the Dictionary and a little bit less about Minor. But this isn't a fair remark, as that was the subject of the book. But that would have added more substance, and if I have a criticism it is surely that the book is not very substantial.
Know someone who loves words? This is probably an excellent gift. It's unlikely to be controversial, and they will probably get a kick out of it. Do not expect too much, and you will not be disappointed.
(I really appreciated, by the way, that Winchester included a list of suggestions for further reading. I will definitely be following some of those up.)
- Reviewed by customer ID: A30KEXFT9SILL6
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