Caught in the Web of Words: James Murray and the Oxford English Dictionary - Softcover

Murray, K.M. Elisabeth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300089198 ISBN 13: 9780300089196

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2001

Synopsis

This unique and celebrated biography describes how a largely self-educated boy from a small village in Scotland entered the world of scholarship and became the first editor of the Oxford English Dictionary and a great lexicographer. It also provides an absorbing account of how the dictionary was written, the personalities of the people working on it, and the endless difficulties that nearly led to the whole enterprise being abandoned.

“It is a magnificent story of a magnificent man, one of the finest biographies of the twentieth century, as its subject was one of the finest human beings of the nineteenth.” —Anthony Burgess

“A moving and dramatic story . . . sometimes tragic, often comic, ultimately triumphant.” —Times (London)

“A biography that possesses many of the virtues of James Murray himself—grace, humor, intelligence, curiosity, and scholarship.” —Time

“In her vivid biography, Murray’s granddaughter brings his remarkable personality to life, and provides an unexpectedly fascinating account of the OED’s long and difficult birth.” —Times Literary Supplement

“A gripping, engaging story; endearing, too. The daily round of a big Victorian family, with its jokes, games, and treasured seaside holidays, is entrancingly evoked.” —Sunday Times (London)

About this title

From the Back Cover:

This unique and celebrated biography describes how a largely self-educated boy from a small village in Scotland entered the world of scholarship and became the first editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, and a lexicographer greater by far than Dr. Johnson. It also provides an absorbing account of how the dictionary was written, the personalities of the people working on it, and the endless difficulties which nearly led to the whole enterprise being abandoned.

About the Author:

K.M. Elisabeth Murray is James Murray's granddaughter and was formerly Principal of Bishop Otter College of Education, Chichester, England.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0300089198
• ISBN 13: 9780300089196
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400