The University Record, April 23, 2001

MED's 71 years (1930-2001) by the numbers

5 chief editors
Samuel Moore (1930–34)
Thomas A. Knott (1935–45)
Hans Kurath (1946–61) (A–F, 3 volumes, 3,568 pages)
Sherman M. Kuhn (1961–83) (G–P, 4 volumes, 5,052 pages)
Robert E. Lewis (1982–2001) (Q–Z, 6 volumes, 6,326 pages)

MED’s 71 years (1930–2001) by the numbers

  • 96 production staff since 1952

  • Publication by the U-M Press began in 1952 with the letter E, then went on to F, A–D, and G through the end of the alphabet.

  • Each part, a “fascicle,” is about 128 pages. The last fascicle (X–Z) will go to the printer in May.

  • 15,000 pages in 13 volumes (115 fascicles)

  • 55,000 separate entries

  • 900,000 quotations

  • 3 million-plus citation slips from all genres

  • “S”—the longest section in both the Middle English and the modern dictionaries

  • “taken”—the longest word entry, precursor of the familiar verb “to take.” Definitions and supporting quotations fill 50 pages.

  • Cost: approximately $14.4 million, of which more than $6 million is from external sources, primarily the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities