General Chat

Thanks Nell, that was fascinating. Lily

It was quite well publicised when the book came out. I think Simon Winchester has also written a book about the OED itself, as opposed to William Chester Minor. nell

How strange, I worked for Oxford University Press for nearly 9 years, and yet I'd never heard mention of this...

Golly, Nell, how interesting.

Nell - cutting off his............. ?

CB It's in paperback, by Penguin. I had it on tape, read by Tim Piggot-Smith. Very good, but its a bit gruesome at the end. Poor old Minor decided to punish himself for lustful thoughts by cutting off his...

Thank you, Nell. I'll make a note of that. CB >|<

His name was William Minor and he was imprisoned because he stabbed a man to death on Lambeth Marshes. There's a book about him called The Surgeon of Crowthorne, by Simon Winchester. He had been an army surgeon during the American Civil War. He was in Broadmoor at the same time as Richard Dadd, the fantasy painter, who stabbed his father, and my great-great grandmother's brother, who cut his fiancee's throat. nell

Lily, We must find out! As someone who's always been fascinated by the OED, and Funk & Wagnall's, I have to know this vital piece of information. I'd much rather read a dictionary than a trashy novel. CB >|<

Pass! Lily

Why was he put there? CB >|<

I was listening to 'A Good Read' and they discussed how the OED came into being. Apparently, back in the 1870's, scholars decided that there was a need for this reference book (well before computers were even thought of!) but realised that it was a huge undertaking, to compile it. So they asked the public for definitions and realised that a great number of (brilliant) submissions were coming from the same source - a mental patient in Broadmoor! Must be where the saying 'genius is close to madness' came from? Lily