Roget’s Thesaurus

 

“The man is not wholly evil - he has a thesaurus in his cabin.”

 

J.M. Barrie, creator of Peter Pan put a thesaurus in Captain Hook’s cabin only to make that declaration as homage to Roget. Many writers profess a debt to the thesaurus, as do crossword fans and Joshua Kendall has even written a book on the Roget’s life – The Man Who Made Lists: Love, Death, Madness and the Creation of Roget’s Thesaurus.

 

There is a story there – a couple of hundred pages worth.

 

According to Kendall, compiling the thesaurus saved Roget – a 19^th century scientist, from falling into depression and a life of misery.

 

Roget’s family members – including his grandmother, mother, sister and daughter - suffered from serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia, severe depression and paranoia.

 

Roget’s father died at a young age, the loss made his mother became overbearing and she began to dominate his life. He married late and lost his wife soon after.

 

Roget’s uncle – a British politician, committed suicide by slitting his throat in Roget’s arms while Roget tried to snatch the blade. “My dear… I wish…” were his uncle’s cryptic last words.

 

Making lists became a coping mechanism for Roget not only in the face of tragedy, but also because of a desire to bring order out of chaos from a young age.

 

The thesaurus was first published in 1852 when Roget was 70 (under the title – Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases Classified and Arranged so as to Facilitate the Expression of Ideas and Assist in Literary Composition). But he first attempted it aged 26, and discovered solace in making lists when he was just 8 years old. Once published, it kept him busy for the rest of his life. In Britain it was an instant success, but in America it sold slowly until crossword puzzles took off.

 

Roget was widely admired by his mentors, colleagues and women, despite or maybe because of his obsessive disorder that absorbed him into his work.

 

A workaholic by nature and design he is credited with inventing the slide rule, and helped found the School of Medicine at the University of Manchester and the Royal Society of Medicine. He wrote several papers on physiology and health and articles for the Encyclopedia Britannica. He also helped establish the University of London and was a founder of and contributor to the Society for the Diffusion of Knowledge. Inventing and solving chess problems was also an interest.

 

References and further reading

 

1. http://ca.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idCAN2628269520080328?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true

2. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/books/review/Mallon-t.html

3. wikipedia.org

4. http://books.google.com/books

 

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