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The dictionary of lost words / Pip Williams.

In 1901, the word bondmaid was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, Esme spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of lexicographers are gathering words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day, she sees a slip containing the word bondmaid flutter to the floor unclaimed. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others – that words and meanings relating to women’s experiences often go unrecorded. She begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words. Set when the women’s suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men.

Item Information
Barcode Shelf Location Collection Volume Ref. Branch Status Due Date Res.
C9009783257 F WIL
Adult fiction   Manunda Branch . . On Loan, Reserved . 26 Apr 2024
C9009029019 F WIL
Adult fiction   Smithfield Branch . . On Loan, Reserved . 12 Apr 2024
. Catalogue Record 1043279 ItemInfo Beginning of record . Catalogue Record 1043279 ItemInfo Top of page .
Catalogue Information
Field name Details
ISBN 1925972593
9781925972597
9781922400277
Author Williams, Pip author.
Title The dictionary of lost words / Pip Williams.
Published South Melbourne, VIC : Affirm Press, 2020.
Physical description 423 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.
Summary In 1901, the word bondmaid was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, Esme spends her childhood in the Scriptorium, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of lexicographers are gathering words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day, she sees a slip containing the word bondmaid flutter to the floor unclaimed. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others – that words and meanings relating to women’s experiences often go unrecorded. She begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words. Set when the women’s suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men.
Subject Oxford English dictionary -- Fiction
Women -- Language -- Fiction
Dictionaries -- England -- Oxford -- History -- Fiction
Encyclopedias and dictionaries -- England -- Oxford -- History -- Fiction
Lexicographers -- Fiction
Women -- Suffrage -- Fiction
Historical fiction
England -- History -- 20th century -- Fiction
Great Britain -- History -- 20th century -- Fiction
Oxford (England) -- Fiction
England -- Oxford
Great Britain
England -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction
Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction
Reservations Queue 8
Catalogue Information 1043279 Beginning of record . Catalogue Information 1043279 Top of page .