Roget in art and culture

Plaque commemorating Roget at the University of Manchester

Canadian writer Keath Fraser published a story, "Roget's Thesaurus," in 1982 which is narrated in Roget's voice. Minimalist in style, Fraser's story manages to capture both the associative power of language and many of the salient facts of Roget's life in a text that occupies less than two full pages.

Roget was the focus of the play "Synonymy" by Randy Wyatt. It tells the story of a graduate student named Gordon who rents out the last known residence of Roget to inspire him as he works on his dissertation regarding the English language and Roget's Thesaurus. The building, which was soon to be torn down, created a gateway in which Gordon found himself traveling back in time and meeting Roget and his daughter, Kate. "Synonymy" premiered at Minnesota State University's Department of Theatre and Dance in December 2005.

He is also a character in the play "An Experiment with an Air Pump" by Shelagh Stephenson, which concerns scientific ethics. The play takes place in the household of Joseph Fenwick in 1799 - Roget appears as one of Fenwick's assistants.

[Edit] Selected writings

• Roget, Peter Mark, Treatises on Electricity, Galvanism, Magnetism, and Electro-magnetism; London: William Clowes, 1832

• Roget, Peter Mark, Animal and Vegetable Physiology. Considered with Reference to Natural Theology; Bridgewater Treatises, London: W. Pickering, 1834 (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009; ISBN 9781108000086)

• Roget, Peter Mark, Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases; London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1856

[Edit] See also

• Earl of Bridgewater for other Bridgewater Treatises

• Lexicography

[Edit] References

1. ^ Mallon, Thomas (2008). "Obsessed (Agog, Beset, Consumed, Driven, etc.)". http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/16/books/review/Mallon-t.html. Retrieved 2008-05-04. 

2. ^ Spiegelman, Arthur (2008). "The man who made lists to fend off depression". http://ca.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idCAN2628269520080328. Retrieved 2008-05-04. 

3. ^ Lemco, I.. "Roget's Engineering Successor [i.e. S. R. Roget"]. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=796030. Retrieved 2009-10-18. 

4. ^ Deaths England and Wales 1837-1983 – lists place of death as Ledbury, and expands "The district Ledbury spans the boundaries of the counties of Herefordshire, Hereford and Worcester and Worcestershire"

5. ^ Obiturary: Medical Times and Gazette Sept. 25, 1869 (Vol. II for 1869)

6. ^ Joshua Kendall (2008). The Man Who Made Lists. G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 0399154620. http://books.google.com/books?id=9jSDwo4KupEC&pg=PA279&dq=%22Peter+Mark+Roget+%22+vacation+west-malvern&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=_KHNSIDACJnqtgPx9IXaCQ&sig=ACfU3U24xDZMl7_uzV5xhrjSWbfSCCTVfw. 

[Edit] Further reading

• Anderson, John; Anderson, Barbara (1993). "The Myth of Persistence of Vision Revisited". Journal of Film and Video 45 (1): 2 – 12. 

• Anderson, John; Fisher, Barbara (1978). "The Myth of Persistence of Vision". Journal of the University Film Association 30 (4): 3 – 8. 

• Emblen, Donald Lewis (1970). Peter Mark Roget: the word and the man. London: Longman. ISBN 0-582-10827-6. 

• Kendall, Joshua (2008). The Man Who Made Lists: love, death, madness, and the creation of "Roget's Thesaurus". New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 978-0-399-15462-1. 

• "Roget, Peter Mark" in Dictionary of National Biography; ed. S. Lee. London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 1897.^{[citation needed]}