Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary: With additional material from A Thesaurus of Old English

In declining the Nobel Prize in 1964, Jean-Paul Sartre commented that `a writer must refuse to allow himself to be transformed into an institution, even if it takes place in the most honourable form'.

Perhaps, however, an institution--in this case represented by the Glasgow University team that over 40 years compiled this quite extraordinary resource-- could be considered as a worthy recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. Not only would such consideration be, I think, more than merited, but would constitute a move away from the recognition of the individual writer in favour of recognising a long-term collaborative research project, particularly one which underscores the debt which the English language owes to other tongues and times. Such an award might also send out a warning regarding the climate of financial immediacy prevalent in today's universities, which too often demote educational considerations to those of a second order of importance. The prize money could, potentially, be used to ensure that as many public libraries as possible are supplied with this resource.

On considering the research which has gone into even individual entries, you don't end up wondering at how long the research project took but, rather, how they managed to do it at all, never mind in only 40 years. Mind-boggling.

If I were a carpenter ... I would build a sturdy and broad little wheeled lectern with adjustable viewing platform and accompanying orthopaedically designed stool. This is the only way in which I think anyone could possibly actually refer to this wonderful source. You need both volumes open, spread out and supported before you side by side - because you can't possibly hold them in your hands, and you frequently need to cross-refer between them. Oh, and you need one of those little rubber thimbles for turning the pages, because much nimble page-flicking is required.

But then, so equipped by Heath Robinson, you would have an absolute treasure chest of amazing knowledge and insight, all at your thimbled finger tips. Heaven. This publication is an invaluable source of information and scholarship for the professional writer, the out-and-out word freak, the historian, the knowledge junkie, and most of all for the lively humnan being. You wonder as you leaf through how anyone ever got by without this resource.

So it only remains for Scotts Of Stow, or Coopers Of Stortford, to feature my patent lectern in their little catalogues, alongside the oven mitts and patio cleaners. Then at last the human race can enjoy its birthright.

Be prepared to lose a lot of time. There are a lot of words here and for someone who has a passion for words, this is a very addictive book. I have no specific use for this book, but already I would not want to do with out it. It is also large and heavy - something I did not think of before buying (or strictly, allowing Bestbeloved to buy for me). It needs a sturdy bookcase with large shelves - that cheap, flat-pack bookcase might not cope.

Weighing in at 6.85kg this is the biggest, bestest thesaursus (syvla (1675) ,synonymicon( 1813))that you will ever need. Ever wanted to insult your boss - find Old English synonyms for every word you don't want him to understand!

This was the best present I have ever bought for my husband and was worth every penny! It will prove to be invaluable to him in his work as an English teacher, both in his teaching and in his own research.