The Surgeon of Crowthorne : A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Oxford English Dictionary

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  • Audie Award for Nonfiction, Abridged (1999)
  • National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee for General Nonfiction (1998)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.

The Surgeon of Crowthorne : A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Oxford English Dictionary

Regular price
Unit price
per
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ISBN: 9780140271287
Authors: Simon Winchester
Publisher: Penguin
Date of Publication: 1999-01-01
Format: Paperback
Related Collections: Biographies & Memoirs, History
Goodreads rating: 3.84
(rated by 116442 readers)

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, 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 shocking truth came to light: Dr. Minor, an American Civil War veteran, was also an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane.
 

  • Audie Award for Nonfiction, Abridged (1999)
  • National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee for General Nonfiction (1998)
Note: While we do our best to ensure the accuracy of cover images, ISBNs may at times be reused for different editions of the same title which may hence appear as a different cover.