The First O.E.D.
Our story begins in 1857, when Richard Chenevix Trench presented a paper to the London Philological Society, in which he argued that the existing dictionaries were inadequate. In the first place, they were much too small.
The first page of James Murray's appeal in 1879
© Reproduced with the permission of the Secretary to the Delegates of Oxford University Press
© Reproduced with the permission of the Secretary to the Delegates of Oxford University Press
Trench also argued that most dictionaries, such as Dr Johnson's, were too prescriptive - ruling how words ought to be used, rather than describing actual practice. He defined the ideal dictionary as a descriptive "inventory" of words: "It is no task of the maker to select the good words of the language... If he fancies that it is so, and begins to pick and choose, to leave this and take that, he will at once go astray... He is a historian of (the language), not a critic."
The idea that a lexicographer (dictionary-maker) should be a historian, was first suggested by the great German scholar, Franz Passow, in 1819, when he declared that "every word should be made to show its own story". A dictionary should show the complete life history of every word, charting all the changes in meaning and pronunciation. This reflected a new awareness that language was constantly evolving. It would be a guiding principle for the editors of the O.E.D.
The only dictionary that Trench admired was Charles Richardson's A New Dictionary Of The English Language, published in 1837. Richardson had not included any definitions at all, but used quotations to illustrate the meanings of words at different periods in history. His quotations came from a much wider period than Dr Johnson's, going back to the 14th century, with Chaucer and Langland.
Trench said that Richardson's was the best dictionary of the day, but felt that it did not go far enough. It was time to create a new authoritative English dictionary.
A ''National Portrait Gallery'' of the English language
The front cover of a pamphlet sent out in 1861 listing books being read for the Dictionary
© Reproduced with the permission of the Secretary to the Delegates of Oxford University Press
© Reproduced with the permission of the Secretary to the Delegates of Oxford University Press
"We have set ourselves to form a National Portrait Gallery, not only of the worthies, but of all the members, of the race of English words... Fling our doors wide! All, not one, but all must enter: for their service let them be honoured; and though the search for them may sometimes seem wearisome, and the labour of the ingathering more irksome still, yet the work is worthy and the aim unselfish. Let us then persevere."
Furnivall was enthusiastic, and estimated that it would take him just four years to complete the work of editing the dictionary. Unfortunately, he was also disorganised, and had so many other interests that he found no time to do anything with the slips, which were soon pouring in from all over the country. It was not until the 1870s that the active work of producing the dictionary began, thanks to the appointment of a new editor, James Murray.
