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How I made my dictionary
English (translation)Original French
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1992
About the author
Émile Littré
187 books1 followerÉmile Maximilien Paul Littré was a French lexicographer, freemason and philosopher, best known for his Dictionnaire de la langue française, commonly called "The Littré".
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March 1, 2018
(This is my review of TK Gopalan's translation of the book, published by Hachette India).
In 1841, French politician, philosopher and philologist Émile Littré was asked by the publisher (also Littré's old schoolmate and friend) Hachette to compile a dictionary of French: a composite work that would cover the histories of words, provide examples from reputed works and authors, and act as a go-to dictionary for a long while to come.
Littré, with a corpus of associates, began the work - and it took 30 years to finally be completed. In the course of it, two major turbulent events occurred (the Revolution of 1848 and the Franco-Prussian War of 1871), Littré found himself having to turn to his wife and daughter to help with his work on the dictionary, and there were frightening times when it seemed as if the violence and political turmoil would quite literally destroy the dictionary.
I liked the story of the obstacles Littré had to face while making his dictionary, and his own dedication to his work (he used to get up at 8 in the morning and work pretty much continuously, with breaks only for meals, till 3 in the morning). That was both inspiring as well as a testament to just how monumental a task Littré had taken on - in addition to some more literary works along the way, as well as his work as a politician.
One must remember that Littré, when he wrote this novella-length essay about his creation of his dictionary, was writing at a time when printing was a different matter to what it is in this digital age. While some of the technicalities of the process I could figure out (given the context), some were pretty much incomprehensible. A brief note explaining the process, at the start of the book, might have been more helpful in my understanding what this was all about.
In 1841, French politician, philosopher and philologist Émile Littré was asked by the publisher (also Littré's old schoolmate and friend) Hachette to compile a dictionary of French: a composite work that would cover the histories of words, provide examples from reputed works and authors, and act as a go-to dictionary for a long while to come.
Littré, with a corpus of associates, began the work - and it took 30 years to finally be completed. In the course of it, two major turbulent events occurred (the Revolution of 1848 and the Franco-Prussian War of 1871), Littré found himself having to turn to his wife and daughter to help with his work on the dictionary, and there were frightening times when it seemed as if the violence and political turmoil would quite literally destroy the dictionary.
I liked the story of the obstacles Littré had to face while making his dictionary, and his own dedication to his work (he used to get up at 8 in the morning and work pretty much continuously, with breaks only for meals, till 3 in the morning). That was both inspiring as well as a testament to just how monumental a task Littré had taken on - in addition to some more literary works along the way, as well as his work as a politician.
One must remember that Littré, when he wrote this novella-length essay about his creation of his dictionary, was writing at a time when printing was a different matter to what it is in this digital age. While some of the technicalities of the process I could figure out (given the context), some were pretty much incomprehensible. A brief note explaining the process, at the start of the book, might have been more helpful in my understanding what this was all about.
Displaying 1 of 1 review