June 2002 newsletter

The OED has had many homes, from James Murray's first 'scriptorium' in the grounds of Mill Hill School in London to its present offices in OUP's main Oxford site. This issue of OED News features a report by Jesse Sheidlower-the first, I hope, of many-from the Dictionary's newest and most significant outpost, in the shadow of the Empire State Building.

The matter of Old English might seem as far removed from modern Manhattan as it is possible to get, but it does represent another frontier for the OED, as Anthony Esposito explains in his article on our expanding and improving coverage of Old English. This topic would no doubt have been of interest to J. R. R. Tolkien, who as well as being an authority on Old English was for a while a lexicographer. In a year when his work as a writer of fantasy is reaching new audiences, it is perhaps appropriate to open this issue of OED News with a reminder of his contribution to the OED.

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