Yes, the Preface to the First Edition of the Abridged OED recites that Mr. William Little of Corpus Christi, Oxford worked steadily [and "without assistance"] on the first edition from April 24, 1903 until his death in January 1922, producing the manuscript for the letters A to T and V, and leaving Mr. H.T Fowler to fill gaps and to produce U,X,Y,and Z, and Mrs. E.A.Coulson, who was "responsible for W".
This was not to write the dictionary: it was to abridge the OED. Can you imagine spending 20 years of your life abridging the dictionary? Hoping to cheat death by working feverishly to get to Z?
And editors of the ABLJ compain? Bosh and fiddlesticks.
Bosh (bosk). sb, slang or colloq. 1834 [-Turk. bos empty, worthless.] 1. Stuff; trash; foolish talk or opinions. 2. int. Stuff and nonsense! 1952.
Fiddlestick (fi-d'l stik). sb. ME. [f FIDDLE sb + STICK ab]. 1. The bow strung with horsehair with which the fiddle is played. 2) joc. Something insignificant or absurd. Often substituted for another word in derision, 1621. 3. as interj. Nonsense! Often in pl. 1600.
Ginny
Virgina G. Maurer, M.A., J.D.
Huber Hurst Professor of Business Law and Legal Studies
Director, Poe Center for Business Ethics
Warrington College of Business
352 256 0295 (cell)
352 376 2867 (home)
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From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Michael Katz [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2011 6:52 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: "The King James Bible at 400: Scripture, Statecraft, and the American Founding"
Nim, Mike, et. al,
If you enjoy historical pieces that span a multi decade length of time and, in this case, touches on murder, the American Civil War, insanity and politics, all relating to the making of The Oxford English Dictionary, try The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester.
Yes, the making of a dictionary may sound droll, but the process (which by the way took 70 years and was strangely Wiki-like), and the events and people affecting the process is amazingly fascinating. Go to a bookstore and just read the three page preface and you'll buy the book.
Mike
Michael A. Katz, J.D.
Professor
Delaware State University
Accounting, Economics and Finance Department
Bank of America Building
1200 N. DuPont Highway
Dover, DE 19901
(302) 857-6918 (O)
(302) 857-6924 (F)
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From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Razook, Nim M. [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2011 11:06 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: "The King James Bible at 400: Scripture, Statecraft, and the American Founding"
Michael – Christopher Hitchens wrote a similar article on the politics in the drafting of the King James version for a recent (perhaps the most recent) Vanity Fair. Very good reading. Nim
From: Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB) Talk [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Michael O'Hara
Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2011 9:35 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: "The King James Bible at 400: Scripture, Statecraft, and the American Founding"
ALSBTALK:
I just love SSRN. That's good tech. If you have not signed up for SSRN's constant intellectual stimulation, you are missing a massive amount of joy (and recurrent surprise that so many folks can find so many really boring topics fascinating).
For example, today's in box contained a journal whose content included "The King James Bible at 400: Scripture, Statecraft, and the American Founding". Time lines are an editorial hook that always grabs me.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1848043
After a little searching, I found the very colorful PDF itself is at this link.
http://www.sbl-site.org/assets/pdfs/LevinsonBermanKJV400HistoryChannel.pdf
Michael
Professor Michael J. O'Hara, J.D., Ph.D.
Finance, Banking, & Law Department
College of Business Administration
Mammel Hall 228
University of Nebraska at Omaha
6708 Pine Street
Omaha NE 68182-0048
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
(402) 554 - 2823 voice fax (402) 554 - 2680
http://cba.unomaha.edu/faculty/mohara/web/ohara.htm
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