The Oxford English Dictionary (20 Volume Set), 2nd Edition

The OED has been to me a teacher, a companion, a source of endless discovery. I could not have become a writer without it.– Anthony Burgess The greatest treasure of wordsall the raw material a writer needs for a lifetime of work.– Annie Proulx The Oxford English Dictionary is more than a national monument to lexicography. The vast storehouse of the words and phrases that constitute the vocabulary of the English-speaking people is the ultimate authority on the English language as well as a history of English speech and thought from its infancy to the present day.– The Times The gigantic total picture of the English languagean epic achievement.– The Observer The greatest dictionary ever compiled.– Sunday Telegraph The greatest dictionary in any language.– The Telegraph It is a remarkable work of scholarship, and must rank high among the wonders of the world of learning.– The Times Educational Supplement The greatest work in dictionary making ever undertaken.– The New York Times

J. A. Simpson worked on the Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary and prepared the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, which was published in 1982. E. S. C. Weiner also served on the editorial staff of the Supplement and compiled the Oxford Guide to English Usage, which was published in 1983.