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The Professor and the Madman |
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 The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary By Simon Winchester Harper Perennial 256 pages, 1999 ISBN 006099486X Reviewed by Zaheera Jiwaji Read another review by Marie Thorpe Simon Winchester's tidy little book is similar to Mark Johnson's novel No Tears to the Gallows in that it brings to light an important yet little-known event in history. Crammed with interesting details about the making of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), The Professor and the Madman will enthrall even those readers not particularly interested in philology and lexicography. The North American title of the book The Professor and the Madman refers to James Murray, the formidable editor of the OED who enlisted the help of thousands of volunteers, and one of his greatest contributors W.C. Minor, known as the madman. He is more gently referred to as the ‘Surgeon of Crawthorne’ - the original title of the book, and used for the editions sold in Britain and the Commonwealth. Minor, an American army surgeon, suffered from mental instability which would probably be diagnosed today as schizophrenia. During a visit to England in 1871, he shot a man and was committed to Broadmoor, an asylum in Crawthorne, Berkshire. It was during his forty-year stay at Broadmoor that Minor learnt about the OED and Murray's appeal to the English speaking world to contribute words, for inclusion into what would become the first complete dictionary. The volunteers were to search for words in books, and to send in their lists complete with word, source and citations. Among the millions of bits of paper that flowed in, Minor's notes distinguished themselves as most prolific and timely. Winchester creates some suspense in writing about the myth that surrounds this history. It seems that Minor did not disclose his situation during those early years, signing his letters to Murray as simply ‘Dr. W. C. Minor from Broadmoor’. Eventually Murray learnt of Minor's odd lodgings through an overheard remark, which led to his visit to the asylum where the two met. Winchester writes that the two men met often during the ensuing years, resulting in a warm and enduring friendship. The Professor and the Madman is an extraordinary tale, and made more so by the details that Winchester provides of Victorian England and the American Civil War. We read about Minor's odd life, but we also read about Murray's brilliance and his perseverance. And despite Minor's very real illness and self-mutilation, Winchester takes a tragic story and turns it into an oddly triumphant tale of brilliance and madness, obsession and passion. He dedicates the book to George Merritt, the man shot by Minor, reminding us of the strange turns that life can take. |
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