Uploaded October 2018 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Little did James Murray suspect, when interviewed by the Delegates of Oxford University in 1878, that he would become the lifelong editor of the first new English dictionary since Boswell. The prodigious effort that ensued, involving 400,000 words and three times as many citations, became the first edition of a noble, 12-volume work called The Oxford English Dictionary, now known retronymically (there's a word for you) as OED1. The current 2nd edition, OED2, was only published 60 years later, which speaks volumes for the original.
Sir James, who was rightfully knighted and became the subject of a riveting best-seller himself (Simon Winchester's The Meaning of Everything: The Story of The Oxford English Dictionary), is a topic on his own. He spoke 5 languages, half-a-dozen dialects, and had a passable acquaintance with Aramaic, Arabic and Coptic; but the sheer scope of his magnum opus, which even compelled the Post Office to give him his own pillar box ("Mr. Murray, Oxford" would always reach him), became the stuff of legend, as indeed did the lexicographic monument he so brilliantly created.
Building on his immensely durable foundation, the magnificent 2nd edition, currently under review, has expanded to 20 volumes from 12, runs to 21,000 pages, and weighs over 60 kg. But it doesn't stop there. Its three subsequent supplements are updated electronically daily against a 3rd edition, scheduled for publication in 2037 at a cost of no less than 40 million pounds.
This stupefying, ongoing achievement, to say nowt of the vast investment of time, effort and money that has already been poured into it, has become - quite deservedly - the bible of English lexicography. It holds a hallowed place at the Hoare house, having long since proven itself (its etymology alone is unique), and remains both a pillar of the English tongue and a lifelong asset to anyone fortunate enough either to own or receive it as a gift.
More biography video reviews at:
bookreviewsandvideos.com/category/biography-book-reviews
Little did James Murray suspect, when interviewed by the Delegates of Oxford University in 1878, that he would become the lifelong editor of the first new English dictionary since Boswell. The prodigious effort that ensued, involving 400,000 words and three times as many citations, became the first edition of a noble, 12-volume work called The Oxford English Dictionary, now known retronymically (there's a word for you) as OED1. The current 2nd edition, OED2, was only published 60 years later, which speaks volumes for the original.
Sir James, who was rightfully knighted and became the subject of a riveting best-seller himself (Simon Winchester's The Meaning of Everything: The Story of The Oxford English Dictionary), is a topic on his own. He spoke 5 languages, half-a-dozen dialects, and had a passable acquaintance with Aramaic, Arabic and Coptic; but the sheer scope of his magnum opus, which even compelled the Post Office to give him his own pillar box ("Mr. Murray, Oxford" would always reach him), became the stuff of legend, as indeed did the lexicographic monument he so brilliantly created.
Building on his immensely durable foundation, the magnificent 2nd edition, currently under review, has expanded to 20 volumes from 12, runs to 21,000 pages, and weighs over 60 kg. But it doesn't stop there. Its three subsequent supplements are updated electronically daily against a 3rd edition, scheduled for publication in 2037 at a cost of no less than 40 million pounds.
This stupefying, ongoing achievement, to say nowt of the vast investment of time, effort and money that has already been poured into it, has become - quite deservedly - the bible of English lexicography. It holds a hallowed place at the Hoare house, having long since proven itself (its etymology alone is unique), and remains both a pillar of the English tongue and a lifelong asset to anyone fortunate enough either to own or receive it as a gift.
More biography video reviews at:
bookreviewsandvideos.com/category/biography-book-reviews
