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. "Being so rich in detail such as names, places, dates, events, and happenings that surround OED, the book is actually about the people starting, making, and continuing the journey of OED. Hence, the book is highly recommended for lexicographers, linguists, teachers, language planners, dictionary users, and fans. In reading this book, readers will obtain a new perspective of seeing OED: from a dictionary to a masterpiece created by dedicated parties working together because of their enormous love and pride of English." -- Anna Marietta da Silva, Lexicography "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 his being an insider and a working lexicographer is of some advantage is amply justified at every turn in this book [ ] It is no mean feat to digest the multitudinous [ ] minutiae-into a readable and even suspenseful narrative, but Gilliver has pulled it off admirably. The richness of documentary material that underpins this book is remarkable. [ ] The splendid achievement of this book will, despite the fact that new information will inevitably be found and new theories be propounded, deservedly stand as the definitive history of the OED for many years to come."-- Language "Until now we have had no reliable comprehensive history of the OED. With The Making of the Oxford English Dictionary , however, Peter Gilliver has supplied that missing history. Gracefully written and occasionally wryly humorous, it achieves the highest standard of scholarship: it is an important book that is a pleasure to read [There] is a lot to cover in a mere 586 pages of narrative, but Gilliver does it thoroughly and neatly The Making of the Oxford English Dictionary will stimulate many new approaches to the OED, but it will stand as the definitive biography of the project for a century, at least."-- Journal of British Studies "[A] magnificent book...The density of Gilliver's research and the detail of treatment are impressive, but they are never displayed for their own sake; despite the often complex interplay of events, the narrative remains clear, focused, and readable...A marvelously rich and detailed study."-- Dictionaries: Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America "Peter Gilliver's meticulous account ... is essential reading for historians, linguists, and literary scholars who are interested in Anglophone lexicography and its most important creation: the OED....This book is not a history of a single dictionary but, instead, the ramified history of an evolving tradition of lexicography that has given rise to an array of indispensable scholarly resources....Gilliver's work is much more than a history of the OED and its makers. It is also a media history of the last 150 years."-- History "...Gilliver has written an interesting book on how this dictionary went from proposals in 1858 to its current form....[I]f you have an interest in how meaning develops, The Making of the Oxford English Dictionary is a good book for you to have personally or in the company library."--Tom Warren, Technical Communication "A narrative which manages to combine detail with telling a good story. [Peter Gilliver's] detailed examination of the records, down to individual quotation slips in many places, allied to his own experience and ability to distill such detail, has resulted in an account which will be as unrivalled for its content and accuracy as it is for its lucidity and insight. This is, after all, a quite fascinating story by any standards, and Gilliver tells it in an accessible and highly readable fashion The whole is designed and produced in an elegant, handsome and welcoming volume, which does its author, his publishers and, above all, its subject proud. This will be the standard account of the OED for as far as one can see and should be held in pretty well any li