Robert Lowth and the Critics
Literary contexts for the “Critical Notes” in hisShort Introduction to English Grammar(1762)
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4855463 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Carol Percy (0000-0002-9871-1745, University of Toronto, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 9-26 |
| Publication date | 2012-04-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Historiographia Linguistica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0302-5160 • E-ISSN: 1569-9781 |
| Publisher | John Benjamins Publishing Company (PUBLISHER • NL) |
| DOI | 10.1075/hl.39.1.02per |
| OpenAlex | W2004414240 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 19 |
This article provides a broad intellectual context for Robert Lowth's (1710-1787)Short Introduction to English Grammar(1762), and in particular for the footnotes or "Critical Notes" in which he documented the grammatical errors of great dead writers. It is well known that Lowth's notes were innovative in the English grammatical tradition, and that they contrasted and qualified the "Examples from the best Writers" in theDictionary of the English Language(1755) by Samuel Johnson (1709-1784). Here the author places Lowth in broader context and demonstrate that the 'bad' grammar of vernacular classics had already been publicized in debates about translating the bible and editing Shakespeare. In the concluding discussion I draw on current studies of literary canons to argue that by crystallizing the difference between literary and standard language, Lowth's grammar increased the socio-cultural capital of both
Art · Context (archaeology · Grammar · Linguistics · Literature · Sociology · Vernacular · Classical Studies and Philology · Historical Linguistics and Language Studies · History · Lexicography and Language Studies · Philosophy
A Textual History of the King James Bible
The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain
Tobias Smollett, Critic and Journalist
Reading Readings
The commerce of language in the pursuit of politeness in eighteenth‐century England
Robert Lowth and the strong verb system
The Cambridge History of the Bible. The West from the Reformation to the Present Day
Marginalia as evidence
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,08 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2014 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |