The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary - Winchester, Simon

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Winchester, Simon

Format: Trade Paperback

Published by Harper Perennial, 2005

The making of the OED was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken. As definitions were collected, the overseeing committee, led by Professor James Murray, was stunned to discover that one man, Dr. W. C. Minor, had submitted more than ten thousand. But their surprise would pale in comparison to what they were about to discover when the committee insisted on honoring him. For Dr. Minor, an American Civil War veteran, was also an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane.