Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #268887 in Books
• Published on: 2005-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Customer Reviews

Truth IS stranger . . .
If Mark Twain had produced this story we would be smiling at the bizarre characterization and twisted plot. A deranged killer, comfortably incarcerated as he participates in an immense intellectual endeavour. That Winchester's tale is valid history instead invokes sadness and consternation. What bends a man's mind past the breaking point? Is a single event sufficient cause, or does it require a sequence of circumstances? If broken, must we believe that mind of no further use? Winchester's history of William Minor not only is a superb read, it shows that only extraordinary circumstances can overcome the condition of the mentally disturbed. Minor, through a fluke, restored meaning to his incarceration through his contributions to the Oxford English Dictionary. Winchester has performed a noteworthy service in this uncanny work. His long-standing journalist's skills are given full rein as he canters through Minor's life in Asia, the American War Between the States and the long years in Britain's Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum.

Winchester feeds us tidbits of Minor's life as the story progresses. Born in what is now Sri Lanka, Minor's early life is almost a tale of fantasy in its own right. Winchester attributes the tropical lifestyle to sowing the seeds of Minor's later madness. The seed flourished during the American Civil War, heavily fertilized with the blood of soldiers fallen during the Wilderness Campaign in Virginia. According to Winchester, the branding of an AWOL Irish soldier led to the madness bearing its fruit in the mistaken murder of a passerby in London. The mindless killing led to his incarceration in Broadmoor. While there, he became one of the principal contributors to the building of the O.E.D.

Winchester stresses what an immense task compiling a full dictionary of the English language was - something we take for granted now - non-existent in Shakespeare's day. The O.E.D.'s editor, James Murray, recognized Minor's contributions as particularly insightful and valuable. Minor had his own method of tracking and classifying words and was able to fulfill Murray's needs in a way that far outstripped the other suppliers. Murray sought out Minor to acknowledge his efforts. It was an unusual association for the time - particularly in the face of Minor's continuing fantasies of persecution.

Winchester's use of definitions as chapter headings is an effective lead-in to the main text. His own word skills aren't wanting, and his descriptive prowess is excellent. Sprinkled with line drawings, the graphics help convey the feeling of the era. If there is a flaw in this book, it's in the lack of an index. A history without an index is incomplete. Still, it's the story that demands attention, which any reader will freely give that as this exemplary narrative progresses. He manages to weave a needed sample of an individual's history within a wider, but comprehensive picture. More accounts of noteworthy, but previously unknown people are needed. It's to be hoped that others will follow Winchester's creditable effort. [stephen a. haines - 2005-08-15]

Singularly fascinating
Featuring a storyline seemingly made for Hollywood, this intriguing exposition of, as the subtitle says, murder, insanity, and the making of the Oxford English Dictionary, is one of those rare tales that literally grabs the reader and forces its words down his throat with a most pleasurable force. I am ashamed to admit that I, a self-described scholar, had no idea of the unfathomable knowledge incorporated into the acclaimed Oxford English Dictionary nor the sheer effort involved in its creation. My admiration for James Murray, the principal editor, and everyone else involved with a bibliographic achievement akin to the building of the Great Pyramid, is unbounded. The story of the seventy-year project to write the greatest dictionary of the English language is fantastic by itself. When the story of the dictionary's most ardent and mysterious contributor is added to the mix, the story becomes almost unbelievable.

William Chester Minor, an American doctor, became perhaps the most helpful contributor to the editors of the burgeoning Oxford English Dictionary. Employing a unique, thorough method in his indefatigable efforts, he won the great admiration and affinity of Murray and became intricately involved with the project. Murray envisioned this man as a medical man of means, surrounded by shelves of books from which he drew his information and nursed his affinity for lexicographical efforts. Dr. Minor, as it turns out, was a man of leisure, possessed of a significant library of books, and intellectually gifted. He was also a certifiably insane murderer. Locked inside an insane asylum, he had nothing but time on his hands, and he used twenty years of that time to send thousands and thousands of references to Dr. Murray's editorial staff. In some ways, Dr. Minor's life was far from bad; while he was in an asylum, he was allowed two rooms, one of which he used as a study; he was allowed to purchase books and other luxuries, communicate with anyone in the outside world, hire a fellow inmate as a servant, and enjoy walks inside the grounds of the asylum complex. Despite the liberties allowed him, though, he suffered terribly from his mental afflictions. He feared that Irishmen, pygmies, and other persons crept into his room at night, defacing his possessions, trying to poison him, forcing him to commit lewd, indecent acts with men, women, and children. Clearly, he was insane and remained so throughout his life. His crime was murder, but he felt great remorse for his sin and even struck up a friendship with the widow of the man he had killed. All of these facts were not known by James Murray until years after his professional association with the mysterious Dr. Minor began, nor did the professional relationship end once the truth was discovered.

The author relates a romanticized tale of Murray's discovery of Dr. Minor's condition, and then debunks the myth by giving the real story, one no less fascinating in its truth. The story of his friendship with poor Dr. Minor through the ensuing years is rather touching. It becomes all but impossible to admire and sympathize with this man despite the state of his mind and the fact that he was a murderer. I will not reveal the most shocking part of Dr. Minor's story here, but it is a rather striking occurrence, I can assure you.

I loved this book. The story of the dictionary's creation was almost as fascinating as the incredible tale of Dr. Minor. The author does indulge his own obvious affinity for lexicography by delving into the complex definitions and histories of certain words early on, but this can be forgiven in that it represents the type of work James Murray devoted his life to in service to the Oxford English Dictionary. I also found myself wishing a time or two that the author would refrain from describing aspects of Minor's life through the window of his own imagination, but such passages take nothing away from a story that seems to have a life of its own and almost begs to be told.

Splendid re-telling of a true story of triumph amid tragedy.
I purchased this book while in London recently under its British title THE SURGEON OF CROWTHORNE. Apparently for American readers, the publishers felt it necessary to "tart up" the title to THE PROFESSOR AND THE MADMAN. Regardless, Simon Winchester's story between the covers is splendidly told, without sensationalising even the most horrific details, revealed matter of factly well into the book. The story is that of Dr. Minor - an American Civil War surgeon - who went mad amid the horrors of "The Wilderness." Pursued by his nightly demons, he later wound up in grim South London where he shot dead a totally innocent man. Sent to Broadmoor - a sprawling lunatic asylum near London - he became one of the most valuable contributors to the compilation of the magisterial Oxford English Dictionary. Winchester recounts - correcting but not spoiling a wonderful story - the meeting between the OED's legendary James Murray and his reclusive contributor. While ultimately Dr Minor's story is a tragic one - not the least for his hapless victim - it is also a tribute to the persistence of the human mind. Cleverly presented with appropriate OED citings, this book is not to be missed for anyone interested in words. If you'll excuse the expression, this is the "definitive" work.