This is the fascinating, incredible, but true story of the 70+ year project to compile “The New English Dictionary on Historical Principles” - a biography of words that became “The Oxford English Dictionary” (OED). Not that you’d know that from the title. I enjoyed the story more than the novelistic telling of it. PERSONAL NOTE: I remember this book well because the surgeon who is the main character had been a Union Army surgeon at (I think) the 1864 Battle of the Wilderness; a place just a little way west out the road from where I now write this review. I have been a student of the 1861-65 War of Northern Aggression for scores of years. The Professor and the Madman is aboutSir James Murray. He was the editor-in-chief responsible for creating a comprehensive English language dictionary that would be published by the Oxford University Press. People tend to juxtapose the idea of reading the dictionary with other activities as a means of underscoring how incredibly uninteresting and undesirable those other activities are. For example: “I have to interact with Sean today…UGH. I’d much rather read the dictionary.” Dr Johnson made huge strides in lexicography, but the delight of his dictionary is its personal quirkiness, rather than scientific rigour and objectivity. A well-known example: “Oats: a grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.”

I had no idea about any of this! I don't think I've ever even used or seen an Oxford English Dictionary, being an American. I only remember Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, when people still owned hard copies of dictionaries. lol. Webster's Dictionary, then called the American Dictionary of the English Language, was published in 1828 and the Oxford English Dictionary's final volume, W, was published in 1928. Interesting! The three main characters, Murray, Minor, and the dictionary itself, are vividly portrayed, and the murder victim, George Merrett, is not forgotten - indeed, the book is dedicated to G.M. Though Minor was held in Broadmoor for the criminally insane, he had money and, therefore, could enjoy more luxury than the normal inmate. In fact, he rented a second cell, and that became his sitting room and library. He paid another inmate to build him beautiful, teak bookshelves. His wealth enabled him to also buy expensive antique books from bookstores not only in England, but from America as well. Considering the circumstances, he was beyond just comfortable, and if one can ignore the bars on the windows, you might even say he was pampered. Working on the OED helped him focus his mind and probably kept him from spiralling deeper into his own misconceptions. The misleading titles annoy me: “The Surgeon of Crowthorne” in the UK and “The Professor and the Madman” in the US. The name of the village housing the asylum is not very relevant, nor that Minor was previously a surgeon, and the US title is horribly tabloid as well as inaccurate: James Murray was never a professor, nor any sort of university academic. He was an autodidact school-teacher who was employed by Oxford University Press, and knighted in his 70s, and awarded an honorary doctorate the year before he died. The Professor and the Madman, Interview and link to offical[sic ] trailer, archived from the original on 9 July 2021 , retrieved 30 June 2021Murray put out a call for volunteers. Amateur philologists responded, but one, in particular, ended up proving particularly prolific: William Chester Minor. The madman, William Chester Minor Jaafar, Ali (2 August 2016). "Sean Penn In Early Talks To Join Mel Gibson In 'Professor And The Madman' ". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017 . Retrieved 27 February 2017. To illustrate just how powerful those demons were, consider, for a moment—an exceedingly painful moment—that, at one point, in a desperate attempt to reconcile a burgeoning religiosity with past sexual indiscretions and ongoing sex-fueled delusions, Minor, a doctor by trade, used a penknife to CUT OFF HIS OWN PENIS. Now, look—we all have days (those of us with penises (penii?), I mean) where we’re frustrated with the little guy. I, for example, get agitated when I accidentally mix mine up with the garden hose when doing yard work (which happens more frequently than you’d think on account of similarities in length, girth, and greenness). But, still—the idea of it being severed, let alone severing it myself sans anesthesia and using a turn-of-the-century penknife…well, let’s just say that I’d rather read the dictionary.

The bold and unique aim of the OED was to include every single word, however trivial, alphabetically, with etymology, patterns of use, and examples of each meaning from published sources. The OED still shows the meaning and the history of meaning. Words are never removed; merely marked as archaic or obsolete. Until Samuel Johnson, an English writer and lexicographer, compiled A Dictionary of the English Language the English speaking people had few concise or friendly dictionaries to refer to for definitions and/or spellings. Johnson’s volume took nine years to complete and was published in 1755 with a total of 42,773 words defined and it weighed about 22 pounds. Johnson’s was the ‘go to’ dictionary until 150 years later when The Oxford English Dictionary (hereinafter referred to as OE) was published in 1928. Winchester, Simon (2001). Le Fou et le Professeur (in French). Librairie générale française. ISBN 978-2-253-15082-4. Gardner, Eriq (20 June 2018). "Mel Gibson Loses Court Bid to Reclaim Rights to 'Madman' Film". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 5 July 2018 . Retrieved 4 July 2018.

Part of the book describes the history of English dictionaries, which was interesting and part of the book describes the life of Minor, which for me was even more interesting.

The Professor and the Madman (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on 15 August 2019 . Retrieved 29 November 2022. Winchester, Simon (1998), The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (1sted.), New York: HarperCollin/Publishers, ISBN 978-0-06-017596-2, OCLC 38425992 ).I would have loved much more on the 3 items above. Still, the story is well written and I think the author’s regard for the subject matter comes through in the prose. Thus, despite my tarnished expectations, I am going to give the doubt’s benefit to the book and award it 3 stars because it's one I would recommend so long as you go into it knowing that you will get heavy doses of Murray and Minor and only a light serving of etymology. I’m quite pleased with my prescience in relation to this book – pleased to have recommended it before having any idea what it would be like or what it would be about - other than the sketchiest of outlines. But prescient or not, I feel much better that I can recommend this wholeheartedly now in the certain knowledge it cannot really fail but to delight. And believe it or not, those aren't even spoilers! Simon Winchester gives us all that right in the title of his surprisingly riveting read The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary. The 1928 OED was 12 (or 10, if Wikipedia is correct) volumes, listing 414,825 headwords, with 1,827,306 illustrative quotes. The hand-set letterpress type was 178 miles (the distance from London to the outskirts of Manchester), comprising 227,779,589 letters and numerals - plus spaces and punctuation.