author
Herbert Coleridge
1830–1861
A brilliant young philologist, he helped lay the groundwork for what became the Oxford English Dictionary before his life was cut short at just 30. His story is a small but fascinating chapter in the history of how English was studied and recorded.
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About the author
Born in 1830, Herbert Coleridge was an English philologist and lexicographer, and the grandson of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. He is best remembered as the first editor of the ambitious dictionary project that later became the Oxford English Dictionary.
Coleridge brought a scholar’s precision to the work, helping shape the early methods for collecting and organizing evidence about how words were used. Though his career was brief, his editorial work helped set the project on its path and gave later editors a foundation to build on.
He died in 1861 at the age of 30. Even so, his name remains closely tied to one of the most important reference works in the English language, making him an intriguing figure for readers interested in language, books, and literary history.