If you find this interesting, you may find _The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary_ [1] interesting as well. The Oxford English Dictionary was made in the mid-late 1800s and laboriously tracked down the etymology of most english words by asking for submissions and tracking them on paper. The largest contributor, Dr. W. C. Minor [2], was a rich doctor who murdered a man and, because of his class and genuine insanity, was confined to an insane asylum and left alone with his books.

I never thought the origin of a dictionary could be fascinating but I spent an entire Sunday reading this book.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Professor-Madman-Insanity-English-Dic...

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Chester_Minor