The Professor & the Madman

4 stars, Metaphorosis reviews

Summary
A history of the strange interaction between the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary and one of its major contributors - a violent madman committed to an institution.

Review
I think it's fair to say words were important to my childhood. There were a lot of puns, and I grew up with the two volume compact Oxford English Dictionary; I spent hours just reading it and learning new words. Later in life, a generous father gave himself, me, and my brother copies of the full, twenty volume second edition, still a treasured possession (though I sadly have less time to read it).

Originally titled The Surgeon of Crowthorne, this book is the story of a major contributor to the early OED – an American doctor living in the UK, who was also committed to an insane asylum. It's a fascinating story, but also a fairly thin one. Winchester makes the best of it, discussing the backgrounds of the two key actors – Minor, the committed American; and Murray, the editor of the OED – as well as the history of the OED, the others affected, etc. He does a nice job – though it's not always clear where embellishment and imagination take over from fact – but even in a modest-sized book, it's often evident that he's stretching the material as far as it can go.

Regardless, it's a really interesting read. I knew some of the basics of the OED's history already, but had not known anything substantive about Dr. Minor's sad but also uplifting story. Well worth reading for those interested in words (or just drama).