Cataloging Kripke’s Dictionary Trove

“She was just voracious in her collecting. The extent of the collection is incredible,” said Alisah Hilt, an IU Libraries monographs cataloger working on the unique collection. 

“It tells a lot about how people used words in all different walks of life,” Hilt added. “She had a real interest in underrepresented groups and minority languages and minority groups – kind of the everyday life and how language is used.”

Kripke’s collection, acquired by the IU Libraries Lilly Library in December 2021, includes about 20,000 traditional and non-traditional dictionaries, and books about slang and jargon and myriad other language and lexicography themes. It’s often referenced as the world’s largest and finest dictionary collection, including many rare and prized specimens. Some focus on slang used by teenagers, flappers, sex workers, and drug and underworld figures. Others feature sports, circus history in America, and the language of people in various occupations, states and regions. Among ephemeral items are comics, pamphlets, postcards, correspondence, school workbooks, and newspaper articles.

The collection became available when Kripke, who lived in New York City, died without a will at age 76. “IU sought out the collection because it was the best and (probably) biggest of its kind and because there was a local champion in Professor Michael Adams,” said Erika Dowell, Lilly Library’s executive associate director and curator of modern manuscripts. “It’s safe to say it is one of IU’s largest collections.”

An exhibition, curated by Adams, IU provost professor of English language and literature, is on display in Lilly Library’s north gallery until July 18. Titled “The Whole World in a Book: Celebrating Madeline Kripke’s Dictionary Collection,” the exhibit publicly shares a small part of the collection for the first time. The accompanying symposium in mid-February 2026, highlighted the importance of dictionaries and celebrated Kripke’s career. 

Three IU Libraries monographs catalogers began work on processing the largely unorganized items in October 2023. As of mid-March 2026, 1,500 books in the collection are cataloged and discoverable by the public in IUCAT, and about 13,000 other items have been inventoried, Dowell said. A Lilly Library archivist recently finished her work on non-book items. 

Catalogers add searchable terms and make notes about treasures they occasionally find between the pages, including receipts, reviews, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and post-it notes, all kept in place just as Kripke had them. 

Processing and cataloging the entire collection will take years with catalogers only able to dedicate a few hours each week in the course of their regular duties. But they report enjoying this deep dive into Kripke’s life and dedication to preserving lexicographic material, both historical and contemporary.

“There are more dictionary enthusiasts in the world than you might think. People are really, really excited about the university’s acquisition of this collection. It feels great to be a part of the team making these items discoverable,” said Emily Sanders, IU Libraries senior monographs cataloger. “It’s fascinating to be able to get a glimpse of someone’s life from looking at their book collection.” 

Kyra Triebold, a Lilly Library archivist who processed 200 boxes of non-book materials, said Kripke was attracted to materials containing the vernacular of marginalized groups including beatniks, gay people, and African Americans.

“I feel like part of it was her position as a woman, as a queer person – her place in life,” said Triebold. “She was a completest and wanted to be very thorough. She was interested in every aspect of dictionaries and language. She was an expert in dictionaries and collecting.”

During two years ending in February 2026, Triebold said, she processed materials Kripke saved, including magazines, autographs from important people, and the archives of G. & C. Merriam Co., publishers of Noah Webster’s “American Dictionary of the English Language.”  Triebold created a finding aid, which is an online descriptive record for manuscripts in archives collection, similar to a table of contents. People can now request these manuscript boxes for perusal at the Lilly Library. 

While the collection details word usage, IU Libraries monographs cataloger Marcia Corner said Kripke’s slang dictionaries and other materials also provide personal accounts and observations showing how people lived and how they spoke.

“She collected a lot of things that were underground and not available to the general public,” said Corner, a 40-year IU cataloger. “She was in New York in the 60s, and her father was a famous rabbi.”

Corner found it interesting when she discovered fiction mixed in. “Most of it is non-fiction and then a fiction piece would show up. She was trying to relate that to an actual dictionary with technical terms.”

Hilt said she’s learning a lot about Kripke and how she came to acquire such an impressive collection, which was housed in her NYC apartment. Kripke got her first dictionary when she was 10 years old, and it opened up a whole world about what dictionaries could provide, Hilt added.

“She was just a constant figure at book fairs, book sales, and bookselling events. She had relationships with various book sellers and dealers, and had her own network of associations,” said Hilt, adding she particularly enjoyed cataloging a Mickey Mouse alphabet book from the 1930s.

“It’s a massive trove of knowledge. At the end of the day, the goal is we want her collection to be out there in the world to research and use,” Hilt stressed.