The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A tale of murder, madness and the Oxford English Dictionary

In the notes at the back of the novel, Dictionary of Lost Words, by Pip Williams the author mentions that one of the books that inspired her to write her novel was the non-fiction work, The Surgeon of Crowthorne, by Simon Winchester written in 1998 (reprinted in 2008).

First discussions about the possible creation of a new dictionary occurred at a meeting of the Philological Society of London in 1859. It was not until 1879 that an agreement was reached with Oxford University Press to publish the new scholarly work.The dictionary was published in fascicles then volumes with the volume ten of the first edition published in 1928. Supplements were gradually published and incorporated into a twenty volume second edition of the dictionary in 1989. Other versions of the dictionary have susequently been published and the OED is now available online.

The creation of this mammoth work was to a large extent dependent on thousands of volunteers reading selected books, compiling quotations from publications showing the use of words and sending the information on slips of paper to the editor of dictionary.

This book tells the story of the work involved in compiling entries for the dictionary concentrating on contributions made by Dr William Chester Minor, an American who ended up serving time in an English psychiatric hospital from 1872 to 1910. As well as providing a glimpse into the life of Dr Minor, the book also provides information about Dr James Murray who edited the dictionary for many years and who sometimes visited Dr Minor. Information is also provided about pyschiatric illness and treatment at the time as the author tries to discover why Dr Minor became the man he was.

Additional information:

History of the OED - OED website

The sad life of William Chester Minor - Vintage News