Sarah Ogilvie

The Dictionary People: The Unsung Heroes Who Created the Oxford English Dictionary

Tuesday 1 October
Castle Hill Baptist Church
4.30pm

The Oxford English Dictionary has long been associated with elite institutions and Victorian men. Famously, its longest-serving editor, James Murray, devoted 36 years to the project – yet reached only far as the letter T. 

But the Dictionary also relied on contributions from members of the public as well as the experts. When finished in 1928, its 414,825 entries had been crowdsourced from a surprising and diverse group of people: from archaeologists and astronomers to murderers, naturists, novelists, pornographers, queer couples, suffragists, vicars, and vegetarians.

Lexicographer Sarah Ogilvie dives deep into previously untapped archives to tell a people’s history of the Oxford English Dictionary. 

Tickets £12.00
includes refreshments

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