Peter Gilliver – författare

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. Thebook 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 onlinedatabase 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.

The Ring of Words describes the powerful and unique relationship between Tolkien''s creative use of the English language in his fictional works and his professional work on the Oxford English Dictionary. Tolkien''s earliest employment was as an assistant on the staff of the OED, and he later said that he had ''learned more in those two years than in any other equal period of [his] life''. Here three authors, themselves senior editors of the OED, engage directly with Tolkien''s language and his fictional world. Two discursive sections explore Tolkien as a lexicographer and his creativity as a word user and creator. The main section of the book is made up of individual ''word studies'' which explore over 100 words found in Tolkien''s fiction in terms of their origins, development, and significance in his fictional world. Words such as ''hobbit'', ''attercop'', ''precious'', ''Smeagol'', and ''waybread'' are explored in fascinating detail. The Ring of Words offers a new and unexplored angle on the creative world of one of our most famous and well-loved writers, presenting new archive material for the first time.

The Ring of Words describes the powerful and unique relationship between Tolkien''s creative use of the English language in his fictional works and his professional work on the Oxford English Dictionary. Tolkien''s earliest employment was as an assistant on the staff of the OED, and he later said that he had ''learned more in those two years than in any other equal period of [his] life''. Here three authors, themselves senior editors of the OED, engage directly with Tolkien''s language and his fictional world. Two discursive sections explore Tolkien as a lexicographer and his creativity as a word user and creator. The main section of the book is made up of individual ''word studies'' which explore over 100 words found in Tolkien''s fiction in terms of their origins, development, and significance in his fictional world. Words such as ''hobbit'', ''attercop'', ''precious'', ''Smeagol'', and ''waybread'' are explored in fascinating detail. The Ring of Words offers a new and unexplored angle on the creative world of one of our most famous and well-loved writers, presenting new archive material for the first time.

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.

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.