Logo

11 Facts About Madeline Kripke

1.

Madeline Faith Kripke was an American book collector who held one of the world's largest collections of dictionaries.

2.

Madeline Kripke was born on September 9,1943, in New London, Connecticut, to mother Dorothy Karp Kripke and father Myer S Kripke, a rabbi.

3.

Madeline Kripke graduated with a bachelor's degree in English from Barnard College.

4.

Madeline Kripke acquired a collection of approximately 20,000 dictionaries in her two-bedroom apartment.

5.

Madeline Kripke placed a special emphasis on collecting dictionaries regarding obscure slang.

6.

Madeline Kripke's collection includes the only known copy of Larks of London, a dictionary of slang from the London underworld.

7.

Madeline Kripke eventually became an editor and a publisher, doing copyediting and proofreading.

8.

Madeline Kripke worked at several bookstores, eventually becoming a book dealer.

9.

Madeline Kripke died from complications of COVID-19 in Manhattan during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City on April 25,2020.

10.

Madeline Kripke was a founding member of the Dictionary Society of North America and attended every meeting for nearly forty years.

11.

Madeline Kripke received their Richard W Bailey Award for Distinguished Service to Lexicography and Lexicology in 2017.