Congratulations to Dr Stephen Turton who has been awarded a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant for his project on James Murray and the Correspondence Networks of the Oxford English Dictionary, 1879–1915 (ENCOED).
ENCOED will create a digital edition of the letters of James A. H. Murray, the first chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary from 1879 to 1915. Making the OED would not have been possible without the information Murray received about words, their meanings, and their origins from hundreds of scholars, authors, and volunteers writing to him from around the world. The largest collection of these letters—over 7,000—is held by the Bodleian Library. ENCOED will transcribe and publish the entire collection, using it to reconstruct and analyse Murray's global web of correspondence through commentaries, maps, and network graphs.
The ERC's Starting Grants aim to help researchers “develop ambitious ideas, build their own teams and establish their independence at a pivotal stage in their careers”. Dr Turton's grant is one of 421 grants, worth a total of €705 million, awarded to early career researchers across Europe.
Dr Turton commented: "The OED remains a monumental work of human collaboration, and Murray's letters reveal the passion, tenacity, and comradeship that first brought the dictionary into being. Getting to share the letters with the world through the Starting Grant is an immense privilege".
You can find out more on the European Research Council website.
