The Dictionary People
The Dictionary People: The Unsung Heroes Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary
by Sarah Ogilvie
Through the stories of the individuals who contributed, this book explores the crowdsourcing project that formed the foundation of the Oxford English Dictionary.
If you’ve used the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), you’ve probably been awed by the incredible level of detail for each word, including masses of quotations that illustrate the first known usage and carefully track variation in meaning and spelling over time. I’ve often wondered how on earth it was put together, and this book answered the question for me!
The first edition of the OED took over seventy years to produce, from 1858 to 1928. To gather examples to trace the meaning of each word over time, members of the public were invited to send quotations to illustrate how particular words were used in the texts they were reading. There was a massive response, and some ‘readers’ sent in thousands of ‘slips’ with quotations.
Using the records of the OED’s former editor, James Murray, Sarah Ogilvie has researched the lives of hundreds of contributors. In The Dictionary People, she brings together some of the most interesting life stories – from murderers to suffragettes, and explorers to addicts.
My favourite quotation was about Professor John Eyton Bickersteth Mayor, a vicar, scholar, and advocate of Esperanto and vegetarianism:
“He was a voracious collector of books and when he ran out of space for them in his college rooms (where he lived) he acquired a little house nearby for the overflow.”
This book was a pleasant trundle through the lives of many unusual and intelligent people, who shared a love of words. Sometimes it became a bit too list-like – how many slips were contributed by this, that or the other person, and the words they sent in. But for word-enthusiasts with an interest in etymology or history, I’d recommend this as an enjoyable read.