Tag Archives: lowth

Owners of a copy of Lowth’s grammar (1762)

Posted on July 20, 2021 by Ingrid Tieken

I expect readers of this blog will also be interested in the grammar by Robert Lowth (1762 and many later editions). And if so, does any of you possess an original copy, from whatever date? If you do, please help … Continue reading →

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Lowth in the Economist

Posted on February 17, 2020 by Ingrid Tieken

It doesn’t happen very often that Lowth (or indeed myself!) gets a mention in The Economist! Thanks, Alison, for letting us know. (Can anyone help me find the author of the piece? I’d like to tell him/her about my new … Continue reading →

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You was in the history of English

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Ingrid Tieken

One of the corrections in the second edition of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park, originally published in 1814 but reissued in 1816, includes you was. This change was recorded by Kathryn Sutherland in her comparison of the two editions of the novel (Penguin … Continue reading →

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Was Lowth a purist?

Posted on September 25, 2011 by Ingrid Tieken

When I gave a presentation on my recently published book The Bishop’s Grammar (OUP, 2011) in Cambridge earlier this year, a member of the audience asked if Lowth was ever described as a purist. The only reference I could think of was … Continue reading →

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Prescriptivism and how it all began

Posted on September 17, 2011 by Ingrid Tieken

In the English language, the rise of prescriptivism is closely linked with the publication of Robert Lowth’s Short Introduction to English Grammar, in 1762. One of the new features of this grammar was the appearance of detailed criticism of grammatical … Continue reading →

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