Oxymoronic read

I am absolutely intrigued by the concept of "The Professor and the Madman," though it was quite a boring book to read. Granted, there was already a dictionary of sorts, but to think that only less than 200 years ago, a person actually made the decision to define the usage of all the words in the English language and compile them into a volume titled the Oxford English Dictionary seems beyond comprehension. With the limits of the age he lived in, he, Professor Murray, had to rely on others to gather together all the words, and as they were found to be used. One of his most faithful assistants in this endeavor was the Madman, a Dr. Minor, driven insane, maybe because of his experiences in war. Every finding had to be handwritten, and mailed to England. I think there had to be at least 3 examples of a word found in writing before it would be approved for inclusion in the OED. I also seem to remember, a break from the pedantic in the book, that the Madman cut off his own penis in a fit of self loathing. Dealing with a lot of words can do that to a person, but he was a surgeon, so he was at least qualified.