Caught in the Web of Words by Km Elisabeth Murray

Caught in the Web of Words by Km Elisabeth Murray

Regular price
Checking stock...
Regular price
Checking stock...
Summary

A biography of James Murray, the first editor of the "Oxford English Dictionary". It provides an account of his life, along with how the dictionary was written, the personalities of the people working on it and the endless difficulties that nearly led to the whole enterprise being abandoned.

The feel-good place to buy books
  • Free US shipping over $15
  • Buying preloved emits 41% less CO2 than new
  • Millions of affordable books
  • Give your books a new home - sell them back to us!

Caught in the Web of Words by Km Elisabeth Murray

This unique and celebrated biography describes how a largely self-educated boy from a small village in Scotland entered the world of scholarship and became the first editor of the Oxford English Dictionary and a great lexicographer. It also provides an absorbing account of how the dictionary was written, the personalities of the people working on it, and the endless difficulties that nearly led to the whole enterprise being abandoned. “It is a magnificent story of a magnificent man, one of the finest biographies of the twentieth century, as its subject was one of the finest human beings of the nineteenth.” —Anthony Burgess “A moving and dramatic story . . . sometimes tragic, often comic, ultimately triumphant.” —Times (London) “A biography that possesses many of the virtues of James Murray himself—grace, humor, intelligence, curiosity, and scholarship.” —Time “In her vivid biography, Murray’s granddaughter brings his remarkable personality to life, and provides an unexpectedly fascinating account of the OED’s long and difficult birth.” —Times Literary Supplement “A gripping, engaging story; endearing, too. The daily round of a big Victorian family, with its jokes, games, and treasured seaside holidays, is entrancingly evoked.” —Sunday Times (London)
"It is a magnificent story of a magnificent man, one of the finest biographies of the twentieth century, as its subject was one of the finest human beings of the nineteenth" Anthony Burgess "A moving and dramatic story... sometimes tragic, often comic, ultimately triumphant." The Times "A biography that possesses many of the virtues of James Murray himself - grace, humour, intelligence, curiosity, and scholarship." Time "In her vivid biography, Murray's granddaughter brings his remarkable personality to life, and provides an unexpectedly fascinating account of the O.E.D.'s long and difficult birth." Times Literary Supplement "A gripping, engaging story; endearing, too. The daily round of a big Victorian family, with its jokes, games, and treasured seaside holidays, is entrancingly evoked." The Sunday Times"
K.M. Elisabeth Murray is James Murray's granddaughter and was formerly Principal of Bishop Otter College of Education, Chichester, England.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9780300089196
ISBN 10 0300089198
Title Caught in the Web of Words
Author Km Elisabeth Murray
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Yale University Press
Year published 2001-02-08
Number of pages 400
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.