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The dictionary people : the unsung heroes who created the Oxford English dictionary / Sarah Ogilvie.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2023Edition: First American editionDescription: x, 370 pages : illustrations ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
  • still image
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780593536407
  • 0593536401
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Introduction: Discovering the dictionary people -- A for archaeologist -- B for best contributor -- C for cannibal -- D for dictionary word nerds -- E for Europeans -- F for families -- G for glossotypists -- H for hopeless contributors -- I for inventors -- J for junkie -- K for kleptomaniac -- L for lunatics -- M for murderers -- N for New Zealanders -- O for outsiders -- P for pornographer -- Q for queers -- R for rain collectors -- S for suffragists -- T for tramps, the Sunday -- U for USA -- V for vicars (and vegetarians) -- W for women -- X for xenomaniacs (and esperantists) -- Y for Yonge, Charlotte, and other novelists -- Z for zealots.
Summary: For the first time ever, this thrilling literary detective story, doubling as a celebration of words, language, people and one of mankind's greatest achievements, unravels the mystery of the contributors from around the world who, for over seventy years, helped to codify the way we read, write and speak.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Dr. James Carlson Library NonFiction New 423.0922 O34 Available 33111011107030
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction New 423.0922 O34 Available 33111011195639
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A WASHINGTON POST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION FINALIST * The New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * A history and celebration of the many far-flung volunteers who helped define the English language, word by word.

"Enthralling and exuberant, Sarah Ogilvie tells the surprising story of the making of the OED. Philologists, fantasists, crackpots, criminals, career spinsters, suffragists, and Australians: here is a wonder book for word lovers." --Jeanette Winterson, author of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit


The Oxford English Dictionary is one of mankind's greatest achievements, and yet, curiously, its creators are almost never considered. Who were the people behind this unprecedented book? As Sarah Ogilvie reveals, they include three murderers, a collector of pornography, the daughter of Karl Marx, a president of Yale, a radical suffragette, a vicar who was later found dead in the cupboard of his chapel, an inventor of the first American subway, a female anti-slavery activist in Philadelphia . . . and thousands of others.

Of deep transgenerational and broad appeal, a thrilling literary detective story that, for the first time, unravels the mystery of the endlessly fascinating contributors the world over who, for over seventy years, helped to codify the way we read and write and speak. It was the greatest crowdsourcing endeavor in human history, the Wikipedia of its time.

The Dictionary People is a celebration of words, language, and people, whose eccentricities and obsessions, triumphs, and failures enriched the English language.

"This is Borzoi book"--Title page verso.

"Originally published in hardcover in Great Britain by Chatto & Windus, an imprint of Vintage, a division of Penguin Random House Ltd, London, in 2023"--Title page verso.

For the first time ever, this thrilling literary detective story, doubling as a celebration of words, language, people and one of mankind's greatest achievements, unravels the mystery of the contributors from around the world who, for over seventy years, helped to codify the way we read, write and speak.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 349-352) and index.

Introduction: Discovering the dictionary people -- A for archaeologist -- B for best contributor -- C for cannibal -- D for dictionary word nerds -- E for Europeans -- F for families -- G for glossotypists -- H for hopeless contributors -- I for inventors -- J for junkie -- K for kleptomaniac -- L for lunatics -- M for murderers -- N for New Zealanders -- O for outsiders -- P for pornographer -- Q for queers -- R for rain collectors -- S for suffragists -- T for tramps, the Sunday -- U for USA -- V for vicars (and vegetarians) -- W for women -- X for xenomaniacs (and esperantists) -- Y for Yonge, Charlotte, and other novelists -- Z for zealots.

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