This volume is a biography of British physician, natural theologian and lexicographer, Peter Mark Roget (1779-1869). He is best known for publishing, in 1852, the Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases (Roget's Thesaurus), a classified collection of related words. As a young man, Roget compiled linguistic notes to improve the quality of his own lectures and writings. His life was marked by several incidents of sadness. His father and his wife died young. Roget's beloved uncle committed suicide in his presence. Roget struggled with depression for most of his life. His work on the thesaurus arose partly from an effort to battle depression. His catalog of words organized by their meanings, had been a vocation since his teens.