This book will be a major surprise
and wonderful delight to the reader that finds it. It is hard to imagine that a
book about the writing of the Oxford English Dictionary might be interesting,
but it is! This book has everything from mystery to murder, and includes
insanity, war, sex, and just a pinch of dictionary history.

The Professor and the Madman
by Simon Winchester is a Sherlockian mystery that spans the globe from prim New
England to the wilds of Malaysia to bloody Civil War battlefield and finally to
Victorian and Edwardian London. At two in the morning on February 17, 1872,
George Merrett was gunned down in the “notorious crime ridden” Lambeth Marsh
section of London. The victim was no one particularly noteworthy nor was the
fact that some one was murder at that location a particularly noteworthy event
for the neighborhood. What was noteworthy was that the murderer, Dr. William
Chester Minor, was a doctor and an officer in the US Army making this an
international incident. Even more noteworthy was Minor’s less than coherent
reason for killing Merrett. Minor was tried, declared insane, and sentence to
life in an asylum for the criminally insane. For all intents and purposes, the
Minor’s story should have ended there, but it did not. Minor, rich, brilliant,
and except for his nightly delusions of persecution, was quite manageable by
the asylum’s standards. He was, therefore, afforded many privileges in the
asylum including a suite of rooms, an extensive library of rare books, and free
access to correspondences. Well-read, with an extensive reference collection,
and not to mention copious free time on his hands, Dr. Minor was the ideal
candidate to become a contributor of historic examples of word usage for the
ambitious Oxford English Dictionary project. With each of Dr. Minor’s
submission, the OED team becomes more curious about the well-educated but
reclusive doctor who politely refuses to attend OED dinners and meetings.

This book was a real surprise to
me. Selected as the book of the month in my bookclub, I grumbled at the thought
of having to read a stuffy book about an old dictionary. I was delightfully
proven wrong. The book is more than a history of a dictionary. It is a
fascinating biography of a man, brilliant yet insane. He was a man who led an
interesting life and paid the price for it. In contrast to Dr. Minor’s life is
the life of the OED project’s leader, Professor William Murphy. Murphy is a man
who ploddingly moved through the academic life, living and dying in almost
obscurity.

I read half the book before time pressure switched
me over to the audiotape version. While the book was excellent with wonderful
engraved drawings, I loved the audiocassette version. The author read my
particular version and his delightful British accent and knowledge of the
subject gave a wonderful nuanced reading of the work. I highly recommend this
particular audiocassette version!

Simon Winchester is a world
traveler and writer with 30 years of experience in the field. He has written articles for Smithsonian, Conde Nast, and National
Geographic. His books include, Outposts
(1985), The Sun Never Sets: Travels to
the Remaining Outposts of the British Empire (1986); Korea: A Walk Through the Land of Miracles (1988); Pacific Rising: The Emergence of a New World
Culture (1991); Pacific Nightmare:
How Japan Starts World War III: A Future History (1992); and The River at the Center of the World: A
Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time (1996). His most recent
works include, The Professor and the
Madman (1998); The Fracture Zone: A
Return to the Balkans (1999) and The
Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology
(2001). Rumor has it that “The Professor
and the Madman has been optioned for a movie, and Mel Gibson has expressed
interest in the role of Professor Murray.”

The
Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester is a delightful book and
wonderful learning experience. As odd as the title of this book sounds, it is
well-worth reading. Besides to be seen carrying or reading this book will boost
your intellectual prowess in the eye’s of others. I highly recommend this book
and I also highly recommend the unabridged
audiocassette.

© 2002 Su Terry

Su Terry: Education:
B.A. in History from Sacred Heart University, M.L.S. in Library Science from
Southern Connecticut State College, M.R.S. in Religious Studies/Pastoral
Counseling from Fairfield University, a M.Div. in Professional Ministry from
New Brunswick Theological Seminary, a Certificate in Spirituality/Spiritual
Direction from Sacred Heart University. She is a Licensed Minister of the
United Church of Christ and an Assistant Professor in Library Science at
Dowling College, Long Island, NY. Interests in Mental Health: She is interested
in the interplay between psychology, biology, and mysticism. Her current area
of research is in the impact of hormonal fluctuation in female Christian mystics.

Categories: Memoirs, General