News |
Hurray, howrah, hurrah, hoorah - College celebrates the donation of a seminal English language workWednesday 18th January 2012The Rosemary Murray Library is delighted to have Dr Robin Hammond’s copy of “A Dictionary of the English Language” by Dr. Samuel Johnson, which was kindly donated by Dr Hammond’s two nieces. The dictionary is currently on display in the library foyer along with a letter from Dame Rosemary Murray to Robin Hammond, in which she writes about different English spellings, “Hurray, howrah, hurrah, hoorah – how does one spell the word.” Dr Robin Hammond was one of the founding fellows of New Hall. She was appointed College Lecturer in English at New Hall in March 1954 and, along with Dame Rosemary Murray, was one of the two senior members of the College at its foundation. She directed studies in Arts subjects, and she and Dame Rosemary worked as a team to manage the College and its students. After New Hall moved to Huntingdon Road, Dr Hammond was Tutor and then Senior Tutor before her retirement in 1974. Samuel Johnson's “A Dictionary of the English Language” is one of the most famous dictionaries in history. First published in 1755, the dictionary took just over eight years to compile, required six helpers, and listed 40,000 words. Each word was defined in detail, the definitions illustrated with quotations covering every branch of learning. It was a huge scholarly achievement. A project was begun on 17 November 2010, attempting to create a digital and easily searchable version of the first edition of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language. This can be accessed at http://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/ |
