Creator
R.W. Burchfield, ed.
Title
A Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary. 4 vols.
Coverage
Oxford
Publisher
Clarendon Press
Date
1972–1986
Description
The moment the OED was completed in 1928, it was dated. A stopgap supplement was completed five years later, but the language kept evolving. When in 1957 Robert W. Burchfield was charged with bringing the big dictionary up to date, it was thought that he could finish by 1964. Yet the first of four volumes didn’t appear until 1972, and the last of the four took until 1986. A 7-year project turned into a 29-year one—not an uncommon occurrence in lexicography. Ultimately, the Supplement contained 69,000 entries and a half-million quotations.
Source
Ex coll. Karolyne & Bryan A. Garner. HHD no. 105