Caught in the web of words : James A.H. Murray and the Oxford English dictionary

Author(s)

Bibliographic Information

Caught in the web of words : James A.H. Murray and the Oxford English dictionary

K.M. Elisabeth Murray ; with a preface by R.W. Burchfield

Yale University Press, 1995

Available at  / 14 libraries

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 355-376) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

This biography of the first editor of the "Oxford English Dictionary" is based on original documents. It is an account of how the dictionary was compiled, the problems the editor had to solve and the endless difficulties which nearly led to the whole project being abandoned.

Table of Contents

  • Prologue - "Round and Crooked S" - the formative years
  • the great learning period - schoolmaster and citizen
  • the discovery of Anglo-Saxon
  • new life in London
  • Furvivall's henchman
  • Mill Hill - the arcadian years
  • the web is spun - abortive negotiations with Macmillan
  • the fly is caught: negotiations with the delegates of the Oxford University Press
  • "Sundry Shocks and Serious Jars" - the raw materials for the dictionary
  • hoc unum facio - solving the technical problems
  • the triple nightmare - space, time, and money
  • editor and publisher - confrontation with Benjamin Jowett
  • the bete noire of the press
  • shearing Samson's locks - the pace of production must be increased
  • "Not the Least of the Glories of the University of Oxford"
  • the sands run out
  • "The Dic and the Little Dics" - the man and his family.

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