《The Dictionary People: The Unsung Heroes Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary》PDF 下载

Sarah Ogilvie The Oxford English Dictionary is one of mankinds greatest achievements, and yet, curiously, its creators are rarely considered. Who were the people behind this unprecedented book? As Sarah Ogilvie reveals, they include three murderers, a collector of pornography, the daughter of Karl Marx, a president of Yale, a radical suffragette, a vicar who was later found dead in the cupboard of his chapel, an inventor of the first American subway, a female anti-slavery activist in Philadelphia . . . and thousands of others.
它主要讲述了字典里面的words的由来。但并不是从第一版本Oxford English Dictionary 开始的；而是从第三位编辑 Jame Henry Murray，如何编纂字典开始的
1884年，Murray搬到牛津，开始了编纂工作。并且向全英征集志愿者。
要求所有的words，需要包括实际案例，在哪一本书中了解到，以及如何使用的。所有志愿者需要递交或邮寄到 78 Banbury Road, Oxford
书中提到了每一个字母后面的工作者，都有着不同的背景和经历。
其中令我印象深刻的是一个叫 William Chester的，这位志愿者竟然是一个murder and prisoner
当然为了跟上时代，murray也征集了很多欧洲以外的words，例如：
sugar，sofa，magazine来自于阿拉伯语
chocolate，《The Dictionary People: The Unsung Heroes Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary》PDF 下载 ePub 下载，avocado，chilli 来自于纳瓦特尔语
想了解牛津字典的由来，或者对字词历史感兴趣的朋友，很值得拥有。

《The Dictionary People: The Unsung Heroes Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary》PDF 下载