When ordering furniture, prudence dictates some allowance be made for the size of the furniture and floor plans. Housing dimensions are always wishful mental impressions which are rapidly brought down to earth when the actual stuff arrives.
When ordering the Oxford English Dictionary, I recommend preparations for 120 cm (47 to 48 inches) of shelf space to be set aside. 4 feet is safe. Anything less than 4 feet is slicing it a bit thin. Very few shelves today are more than a metre (37-38 inches)wide. I run mine across two shelves with the planks at the same height. Anything less spacious and all 20 volumes will be wedged so tightly that retrieval of individual volumes become tiresome. I cover my volumes with plastic wrap, some uncompressed area every few volumes avoids "stickiness" and helps the hand grasp a volume.
Each volume is slightly more than 2 inches thick. They are not of uniform thickness. Volumes 1-10 is about 1.5 inches wider on the shelf than Volumes 11-20.
The height of the shelves should be just over 32 cm. 13 inch height is fine. Anything more and the volumes will not look aesthetically pleasing. Such an august collection should not look as if it were an ill-fitting after-thought. Too much head space in the shelf is to be avoided.
Getting a shelf 30 cm or 12 inches deep should not be a problem.
For 20 years, my first set sat on scandinavian solid pine 1 inch thick shelves, so that was uneventful, but such furniture is now virtually unavailable. Another set meant for more robust use sat on half inch thick shelves made of tropical teak ply, each 32 inch wide. After a few months, the two shelves started bowing (warping downwards at the centre). There were some other books on these shelves to act as "book-ends". I turned over the teak ply planks, only to have them bow from convexity to concavity again. I bought some extra half inch planks and two planks held the Dictionary without them warping downwards.
I would advise against IKEA "Billy" shelves (suggested by a reviewer) for long term use. Other lighter volumes (like law journals) have collapsed a shelf every now and then, spilling the books on to the floor. Perhaps the fault was in my poor workmanship as an outsourced assembler of otherwise sturdy Swedish furniture. The volumes look solidly bound to survive such a fall, but I am loathe to crash-test them.
The weather in my country is tropical, and is harsh to books. The Dust Jacket colour has held up extremely well, with no noticeable deterioration of colour over 20 years. The page edges are blue-speckled, and my earlier type-set in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England and MANUFACTURED IN THE USA shows some additional light brown speckling from age. Otherwise it is like the day it was bought. There is no mention of where it was printed. The latest sets are printed in China (it says so on the box and in the book), and the jury is out on which country produces the better product. For example, Volume 15 2002 7th reprint in the USA weighs 2.8 kg, while the same Vol 15 8th reprint PRINTED IN CHINA on acid-free paper weighs 3.0 kg. The Printed in China volume looks less glossy, and duller, which makes the print easier to read, and feels far more solid. I prefer the United States marque although evidence in the physical product points to the contrary.
It is a dilemma looking at the three versions: 1989, 2002 and the present China one, each having its own merits. The irony is that the 2002 version from Fulfilment by Amazon (click under "see 2 other formats") from Intelligent Entertainment is $799.99; the USA product being $200 to $400 cheaper than the China product is an irony when the balance of trade points to the contrary. Maybe the Chinese, as they told you in their 2008 Olympics, were the inventors of paper and had several millenia advantage over Yankee newbies.
20 years ago, I bought the Oxford for the USD equivalent of about $4,000, and shipping from England cost about $800 and it took 3 months to arrive. Nowadays, a set with the CD is just 1,099. And Amazon got it to Singapore by Standard Shipping by DHL from USA to Singapore in just 3 days for a mere $71 dollars.
It got cheaper when I ordered the 2002 reprint from the Amazon Fulfilment centre, at USD799. The shipping was just a nominal $9.99 (the same as a normal book - $5 plus 4.99 for an overseas Standard Shipping). And Amazon delivered it by DHL in just 3 days yet again, and again. For the price of ONE set in 1989, I can have multiple sets in 2010. Plus instant gratification too. I do not have to worry about misplacing a volume any more. In 1989, a Manhattan apartment cost around $40,000, so $4,000 for the Oxford was a 10% down-payment on an apartment.
I thought I should put things in perspective if anyone is wondering if the 20 volume set is good value for money. The only considerations in acquisition are: (1) the availability of 4 feet of shelf space, and
(2) current fortuitous availability of disposable income, which otherwise might have been misspent elsewhere.
Fortunately, I live in an area where tropical hardwood shelves are bountiful. My dvd collection looks great on stylish IKEA shelves, but I urge caution when using the terms "IKEA" and "OXFORD 20 VOLUME SET" in the same context.
July 2010 update: I have had the 20 volume set on a professionally assembled IKEA basic economy "billy" 30 inch bookshelf and it seems to have held up well for months. The $50 shelf and the $799.99 Fulfilment by Amazon USA set placed within arm's reach of my work station really encourage its use, even over the Shorter Oxford, which is on the same Ikea bookshelf.
Christmas 2010 update: The same stuff plus CD Rom under "Oxford English Dictionary Set" is just $1,091.78. So if clicked "Check Out" under this heading, you would be paying about $200 extra. If you were suckered, write to Amazon to demand a refund.
I take the point of another reviewer that the cost of the Oxford does fluctuate from time to time. The 20 volume set with the CD-rom Version 4.0 dropped from $1,299 to $1,099 during the three months when it was "out of stock" at Amazon in 2009. The CD rom ($220 if bought separately) is thrown in for just $100 more, now that 20 volume Hard Copy+ CD is in stock.
That reviewer's claim that he got his set at only $300, during what must be a Black Friday Gold Box flash sale, rubs salt into wound. The same Oxford is readily available today for what is less than a month's mortgage payment on the same time-travelled Manhattan apartment. However, that claim of a give-away $300 for 20 volumes grates on my nerves.
I want to whack that guy on the head with a volume of Oxford. Individual volumes of the Oxford are finely balanced and handles well for its size, both for reading as well as for use as a blunt instrument.
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Reviews with images
Napoleon and the real measurements
When Napoleon was asked which was the happiest day of his life, he answered "My first communion". I am certain that if Napoleon had acquired a copy of this dictionary, he would have said it was the second happiest day of his life.There is no reason to add to the superlatives others have used to describe this. I am including the measurements because I wanted them for preparing for its arrival, but the measurements given by Amazon are not very useful.Each volume is 9 1/2 inches wide and 12 3/8 inches tall and 2 inches thick. Placed on a shelf together, ten volumes measure 22 1/4 inches wide. My glass door bookshelves from IKEA are 10 1/4 inches deep and my oak bookshelves from Fred Myers in Oregon are 10 3/4 inches deep.In addition to the astounding content, the books are physically beautiful. One of the boxes was severely damaged, even half open, but the books did not have the tiniest blemish on them. The printing, the binding, everything about them is worthy of the content, that is, every word and every meaning and every worthwhile reference of the greatest language in the history of the world.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2010
Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2024
The OED is a one of the wonders of the literary world... What next
Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2024
I have now ordered the complete 20 volume set of the Oxford English Dictionary twice from Amazon prime, costing well over $1,000 each time, and when each set arrived the set was incomplete with only one of the volumes in the box. The OED is a one of the wonders of the literary world. What to do next? Is it possible to purchase a complete set from Amazon?
Reviewed in the United States on February 14, 2024
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2008
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2024
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2009
When Napoleon was asked which was the happiest day of his life, he answered "My first communion". I am certain that if Napoleon had acquired a copy of this dictionary, he would have said it was the second happiest day of his life.
There is no reason to add to the superlatives others have used to describe this. I am including the measurements because I wanted them for preparing for its arrival, but the measurements given by Amazon are not very useful.
Each volume is 9 1/2 inches wide and 12 3/8 inches tall and 2 inches thick. Placed on a shelf together, ten volumes measure 22 1/4 inches wide. My glass door bookshelves from IKEA are 10 1/4 inches deep and my oak bookshelves from Fred Myers in Oregon are 10 3/4 inches deep.
In addition to the astounding content, the books are physically beautiful. One of the boxes was severely damaged, even half open, but the books did not have the tiniest blemish on them. The printing, the binding, everything about them is worthy of the content, that is, every word and every meaning and every worthwhile reference of the greatest language in the history of the world.
There is no reason to add to the superlatives others have used to describe this. I am including the measurements because I wanted them for preparing for its arrival, but the measurements given by Amazon are not very useful.
Each volume is 9 1/2 inches wide and 12 3/8 inches tall and 2 inches thick. Placed on a shelf together, ten volumes measure 22 1/4 inches wide. My glass door bookshelves from IKEA are 10 1/4 inches deep and my oak bookshelves from Fred Myers in Oregon are 10 3/4 inches deep.
In addition to the astounding content, the books are physically beautiful. One of the boxes was severely damaged, even half open, but the books did not have the tiniest blemish on them. The printing, the binding, everything about them is worthy of the content, that is, every word and every meaning and every worthwhile reference of the greatest language in the history of the world.
Images in this review
Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2013
Top reviews from other countries
Lux In Domino
Truly, an epic piece of scholarly work.
Reviewed in Germany on February 12, 2019
Amazon Customer
A remarkable accomplishment
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 13, 2015
