The Making of the Oxford English Dictionary [Paperback]

This book tells the history of the Oxford English Dictionary from its beginnings in the middle of the nineteenth century to the present. The author, uniquely among historians of the OED, is also a practising lexicographer with nearly thirty years' experience of working on the Dictionary. He has drawn on a wide range of sources--including previously unexamined archival material and eyewitness testimony--to create a detailed history of the project. The book explores the cultural background from which the idea of a comprehensive historical dictionary of English emerged, the lengthy struggles to bring this concept to fruition, and the development of the book from the appearance of the first printed fascicle in 1884 to the launching of the Dictionary as an online database in 2000 and beyond. It also examines the evolution of the lexicographers' working methods, and provides much information about the people--many of them remarkable individuals--who have contributed to the project over the last century and a half.

Preface
Acknowledgements
List of illustrations
List of capsules
1. Beginnings: to 1861
2. Furnivall's Dictionary: 1861-1875
Interlude.The work of Furnivall's sub-editors
3. Manoeuvres: 1876-1879
4. The road toAnt: 1879-1884
5. The Dictionary divides: 1884-1887
6. Storm and stress: 1888-1897
Interlude.Method: From quotation slip to published entry
7. And then there were four: 1987-1915
8. After twilight: 1915-1923
9. Limping over the finishing line: 1923-1933
10. Interregnum: 1933-1957
11. Learning to swim (again): 1957-1972
12. Second Supplement to Second Edition: 1972-1989
13. TowardsOED3: 1989-
Guide to abbreviations and sources
Bibliography
Index

This work is erudite, massively learned, and meticulously documented and, by some magic instilled into it, both informative and entertaining. [ ] G[illiver]'s claim on the first page of the preface that hl£.