Dr Stephen Turton, along with Prof Charlotte Brewer (Oxford), has curated a small exhibition on ‘The Oxford English Dictionary and the Public’ at Oxford’s Weston Library. In order to create the OED, its first chief editor, James Augustus Henry Murray (1837–1915), wrote and received thousands of letters on the histories of words—so many that the Post Office installed a pillar box outside his house for his convenience. The exhibition showcases a selection of the letters Murray was sent by famous authors (such as Tennyson and Thomas Hardy), by advisors on varieties of English around the world (including in South Africa, India, and Australia), and by members of the public to whom Murray made open appeals for insights into popular pronunciation. The exhibition, which opened on 15 April, will run until 3 July 2022. Admission is free.

Link to the display page: https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/the-oxford-english-dictionary-and-the-public