OED

Part I A-ANT of the Oxford English Dictionary was published on January 29, 1884 (1). The original plan, set in 1879, was to complete the dictionary in ten years. Five years later, they only reached the word ant. The dictionary would be published fascicle after fascicle until the last one, published in April 1928. Check out Tech Library books (including the cited one) on the subject at http://goo.gl/66VKg. Read the history of the OED at http://goo.gl/seZr8. Search one of the 600,000 words of the OED at http://goo.gl/uQFiM (must sign in).
(1) Murray, Katharine Maud Elisabeth. “The Triple Nightmare: Time, Space, and Money.” Caught in the Web of Words James Murray and the Oxford English Dictionary. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1978. 205-214. Print.