The Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Oxford Paperback Reference) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

More than 1,300 saints are profiled in this most readable, extensive, and enlightening of references. Curious about the saint you're named after? Attending a feast day for a saint you never heard of? Want an obscure saint to include in your historical novel? Or merely desirous of the kind of feet-up-by-the-fire perusal that only a well-written reference text can provide? David Farmer's compilation of saints includes all English saints; all saints of whom there is or was a notable cult; important saints from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the rest of Europe; and recently canonized saints. Arranged alphabetically, the dictionary starts with Abbo of Fleury, ends with Zosimus of Syracuse, and includes Pelagia of Antioch, Crispina of Tagora, Cunegund the empress, and a wide assortment of other martyrs, popes, spiritual seers, and those, such as Crispin of Viterbo, who were canonized simply for their humble lives and Christian faith. There's also a wonderful appendix of the principal patronages of saints--telling, for example, who's the patron saint of healthy dogs (Hubert) and mad dogs (Sithney), plus an index of the main iconographical emblems of saints, another of places, and a calendar of feast days. --Stephanie Gold

Review

Praise for previous editions:
"This edlightful array of the good and the incredible is the sort of thing that gives hagiography a good name."--The Times (London)
"Even those who do not believe in saints...will be able to enjoy and to profit from this splendid book."--The Economist
"An essential reference work for anyone interested in the subject."--The Daily Telegraph
"Excellent and readable....A holy dip that's much more pleasant than baptism."--The Guardian

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 4 edition (January 8, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192800582
• ISBN-13: 978-0192800589
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,369,374 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Balanced and interesting, November 3, 1999

By	Ronald St. John (Los Angeles, California USA) - See all my reviews

Balanced, informative, and interesting summary of available information on approximately 1300 saints, with useful system of indexing and cross-referencing.

In summarizing the lives of the saints, some sources seem to want to gloss over the more fantastic, fairy-tale aspects of some stories, while other sources will drift off into a Daily Meditation self-help format. This text takes an even-handed and academic approach, that allows the reader to draw his own conclusions.

As a Californian, it is a little frustrating to deal with the British bias on saints, and find nothing about saints who were chosen for California place names like San Dimas, San Luis Obispo, San Diego (Didacus?), and San Ysidro. But overall this is an excellent source for hagiographic trivia and history.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More than Lives, October 23, 2000

By	Joel M Sax (Trabuco Canyon, CA USA) - See all my reviews

An entertaining and informative dictionary of saints that not only gives the lives of the saints but also a history of their folklore, veneration and relics. Farmer includes "popular" saints like St. Werner (who was never formally canonized), desanctified saints like Barbara, and a few saints of the Orthodox traditions. Appendices list patron saints and symbols associated with the saints. You will not find every saint in this work, but the ones you do find are described in rich detail. I bought this book for a narrow purpose and soon found myself reading it from cover to cover in bed. The only bothersome thing, for me, is Farmer's Anglophilia: he gives space to many obscure English and Irish saints while ignoring some key figures from other parts of the world, like St. Diego of Alcala (for whom San Diego is named). Nonetheless, it is a useful book for either reference or entertainment.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scholarly, superbly researched and eminently readable, May 19, 1999

By A Customer

This book really is a superbly researched work by an author who has a real feel for the subject. It contains in-depth, well researched information which has been succintly put together. Where there is doubt about the authenticity of any source material, this is clearly stated in the text. This book is definitely the best place to start for anyone with an interest in the subject of saints.