The Professor and the Madman
A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
Recommended by Peter Gilliver, and 1 others. See all reviewsRanked #2 in Dictionaries, Ranked #4 in Etymology — see more rankings.
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, begun in 1857, 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... more
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Peter Gilliver W.C. Minor was a member of the public, but he just happened to be a murderer who was banged up in Broadmoor. (Source)
Rankings by Category
The Professor and the Madman is ranked in the following categories:
- #80 in Biography
- #29 in British History
- #57 in Editing
- #21 in Encyclopedias
- #92 in England History
- #34 in Historical Nonfiction
- #35 in History
- #5 in Language
- #16 in Linguistics
- #36 in Schizophrenia
- #54 in Sri Lanka
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