John Simpson (born 13 October 1953) is an English

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries. * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. * Theoreti ...

and was Chief Editor of the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a com ...

'' (''OED'') from 1993 to 2013.

Life

John Simpson was born in Cheltenham, where his father was employed at

GCHQ Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Unit ...

, and attended

Dean Close School Dean Close School is a public school in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school is divided into pre-prep, preparatory and senior schools located on separate but adjacent sites outside Cheltenham town centre, occupying the largest privat ...

. He gained a BA in

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

at the

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

in 1975 and an MA in

Medieval Studies Medieval studies is the academic interdisciplinary study of the Middle Ages. Institutional development The term 'medieval studies' began to be adopted by academics in the opening decades of the twentieth century, initially in the titles of books ...

at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

in 1976. He is married with two daughters and two granddaughters, and lives in Cheltenham.

Career

Simpson joined the editorial staff of the ''OED'' in 1976 to work on the ''Supplement to the OED''. He was Co-Editor of the Second Edition of the ''OED'', published in 1989, and in 1993 was appointed Chief Editor, a position he held until his retirement in October 2013. As Chief Editor, he led the first comprehensive revision of the ''OED'' and oversaw the introduction of its online version. Simpson is a member of the English Faculty at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, an Emeritus Fellow of

Kellogg College, Oxford Kellogg College is a graduate-only constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1990 as Rewley House, Kellogg is the university's 36th college and the largest by number of students. It hosts research centres including ...

, and a member of the Philological Society, where the idea of the Dictionary was first proposed in the 1850s. He was a founder member of the European Federation of National Institutions for Language and has acted as an adviser to a number of other national dictionaries, including the ''Opera del Vocabolario Italiano'' and the '' Australian National Dictionary''. He has been awarded two

D.Litt Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

degrees, the first in 1999 by the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

for his "distinguished creative achievement as a scholar in lexicography", and the second in 2015 by the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

for his work on the ''OED''. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to literature.

Publications

Simpson edited the ''Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs'' (1982) and co-edited the ''Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang'' (1992). He wrote introductions to Robert Cawdrey's ''

Table Alphabeticall ''A Table Alphabeticall'' is the abbreviated title of the first monolingual dictionary in the English language, created by Robert Cawdrey and first published in London in 1604. Although the work is important in being the first collection of it ...

'' (1604), B.E.'s ''Dictionary of the Canting Crew'' (1699),

Francis Grose Francis Grose (born before 11 June 1731 – 12 May 1791) was an English antiquary, draughtsman, and lexicographer. He produced ''A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'' (1785) and ''A Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local Pr ...

's ''Popular Superstitions'' (1787), and James Redding Ware's ''Victorian Dictionary of Slang and Phrase'' (1909), published by the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

. He co-edits (with Harald Beck) ''James Joyce Online Notes'', a forum for the publication of documentary evidence about the people, words and cultural references in

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's fiction. His memoir ''The Word Detective'', which tells the story of his time at the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', was published in October 2016 by

Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown (publisher), James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Ear ...

and in 2017 in

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...

by Abacus Books. His most recent publication - ''Managing Poverty: Cheltenham Settlement Examinations and Removal Orders, 1831–52'', Gloucestershire Records Series 34, 2020 () - deals with the experience of paupers in his home town of Cheltenham in the mid-nineteenth century. It won the Alan Ball Local History Award 2020.

References

Relevant literature

* Mieder, Wolfgang. 2018. "The Word (and Phrase) Detective": A Proverbial Tribute to OED Editor John A. Simpson. ''Proverbium'' 35:223-262.

External links

*
''Oxford English Dictionary'' website entry for John Simpson

University of Oxford Faculty of English website entry for John Simpson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, John 1953 births Living people Alumni of the University of York British lexicographers Chief editors of the Oxford English Dictionary Fellows of Kellogg College, Oxford James Joyce scholars Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Dean Close School People from Cheltenham