{\b Roget's Thesaurus}.

{\b General Comment}.

Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases first appeared in 1852. Its 
author, Dr Peter Mark Roget (1779-1879) was a scholar and physician educated 
at Edinburgh University. The high point of his career was his election as 
Fellow to the Royal Collage of Physicians. He was also an active member of 
many new scientific societies which sprung up in London during the 1820's and 
'30's.

As well as pursuing his career as a physician and his interests in science he 
somehow found time to read voraciously in several languages. Then, finding his 
scientific career had come to a close following his ousting from the position 
as Secretary of the Royal Society, he turned his attention to his Thesaurus.

Roget's strong utilitarian beliefs prompted him to think about the creation of 
a book which would help people to communicate with greater ease and precision. 
His aim was to produce a system of verbal classification in which words and 
phrases were grouped according to underlying concepts and meanings. The 
Thesaurus could then be used by anybody who required an alternative word to 
the one he or she was using, a word with an equivalent or similar meaning. His 
volume could then be used as a sort of dictionary of synonyms.

Roget's rather unimaginative scientific mind which was more comfortable with 
arrangement and classification, rather than discovery, was perfectly suited to 
his task. To Roget language was a scientific tool and he was not concerned 
with the beauty of style or the imaginative potential of literature. Like Dr 
Johnson before him, Roget was driven by a desire to give language a sense of 
stability in a world of uncertainty and rapid change.

Since its first edition in 1852, Roget's Thesaurus has been continually 
revised, initially under the editorship of Roget's son, John (from 1879), and 
then his grandson, Samuel (from 1933).

Roget's Thesaurus has to date sold well over thirty million copies and has 
proved a valuable companion to many successive generations of English users.