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The Dictionary of Lost Words

The Dictionary of Lost Words

In 1901, the word 'Bondmaid' was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it. Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the 'Scriptorium', a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme's place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word 'bondmaid' flutters to the floor. Esme rescues the slip and stashes it in an old wooden case that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant in the big house. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world. Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others, and that words and meanings relating to women's experiences often go unrecorded. While she dedicates her life to the Oxford English Dictionary, secretly, 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. It's a delightful, lyrical and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words, and the power of language to shape the world and our experience of it.

Item Information
Barcode Shelf Location Collection Volume Ref. Branch Status Due Date Res.
10018970 F/WIL
ADULT FICTION CORE   EVANS HEAD . On Loan . 15 Apr 2024
10027288 F/WIL
ADULT FICTION CORE   CASINO . On Loan . 12 Apr 2024
. Catalogue Record 1006902548 ItemInfo Beginning of record . Catalogue Record 1006902548 ItemInfo Top of page .
Catalogue Information
Field name Details
ISBN 9781925972597
Call Number F/WIL
Author Williams, Pip, 1969- (author)
Title The Dictionary of Lost Words
Publication details South Melbourne, Vic. :
Affirm Press
2020
Physical Description 423 p.
Summary In 1901, the word 'Bondmaid' was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it. Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the 'Scriptorium', a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme's place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word 'bondmaid' flutters to the floor. Esme rescues the slip and stashes it in an old wooden case that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant in the big house. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world. Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others, and that words and meanings relating to women's experiences often go unrecorded. While she dedicates her life to the Oxford English Dictionary, secretly, 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. It's a delightful, lyrical and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words, and the power of language to shape the world and our experience of it.
Associated Awards Winner of the N.S.W. Premier's Literary Award, The University of Sydney People’s Choice Award , 2021.
Subject Women -- Suffrage -- Fiction
Lexicographers -- Fiction
Women -- Language -- Fiction
Dictionaries -- England -- Oxford -- History -- Fiction
Geographic Subject England -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction
England -- History -- 20th century -- Fiction
Great Britain -- History -- 20th century -- Fiction
Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction
Oxford (England) -- Fiction
Genre/ Form Historical fiction
Catalogue Information 1006902548 Beginning of record . Catalogue Information 1006902548 Top of page .
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