Caught in the Web of Words by Kmelisabeth Murray

Caught in the Web of Words by Kmelisabeth 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)

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780300021318
ISBN 10	0300021313
Title	Caught in the Web of Words
Author	Kmelisabeth Murray
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Yale University Press
Year published	1977-10-01
Number of pages	416
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.