Murray's postbox
October 17, 2006
Today is an important day of action in the History Matters campaign, so I thought I would write about a landmark which has a very special place in the history of the English language.
This postbox is unique in the UK. It is the only one to have been installed outside a private house specifically because the person living there sent so much mail. The individual in question was James Murray, the editor of the Oxford English Dictionary. He spent thirty years sifting through words and quotations sent by hundreds of readers in his drafting of the hefty reference work, to then send them on to the publishers courtesy of this postbox outside his home at 78 Banbury Road, in Oxford. I first read about it in Simon Winchester's The Meaning of Everything, and I was all happy to be able to go and see it this weekend. Geeky, je?
Posted by céline, in Culture, on October 17, 2006Presumably this was in the days before business collections, which makes it sound as if James Murray was one of the first people to see the potential to use the Royal Mail so heavily for business. Is that right, do you know?
Posted by Jemima on October 17, 2006 3:58 PMThat is geeky, but very cool. I wonder if I'd qualify for an off licence next door?
Posted by GollyG on October 17, 2006 9:36 PMA most readable book, The Professor and the Madman, also masterfully recorded as an unabridged audio you can listen to while driving, includes much insight into the development of the Oxford Dictionary. A former U.S. Civil War officer and contributor, confined to an asylum in England, sent in many contributions.
Posted by J Henry Phillips on October 21, 2006 7:03 PMA fascinating story indeed!
Details on Murray can be found here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Murray_(lexicographer).
And the "madman" is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Chester_Minor
He really was round the twist, but astonishingly well-read.
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