Eighteenth-century English normative grammars and their readers
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Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade
Abstract
Who were the readers of eighteenth-century normative English grammars? Because one grammar from the end of the century uniquely includes an elaborate list of subscribers, the work’s readership can be analysed. People who subscribed to Richard Postlethwaite’s Grammatical Art Improved (1795) comprised booksellers, teachers, clergymen and relatives, but also members from the rising middle classes. By this time, normative grammars were evidently important to the socially ambitious. Being largely based on Robert Lowth’s Short Introduction to English Grammar (1762) and further anticipating the rise of the usage guide, the book was highly ambitious in content and approach, but ultimately failed to be successful because its publication coincided with Lindley Murray’s phenomenally popular English Grammar, also published in 1795.
Abstract
Who were the readers of eighteenth-century normative English grammars? Because one grammar from the end of the century uniquely includes an elaborate list of subscribers, the work’s readership can be analysed. People who subscribed to Richard Postlethwaite’s Grammatical Art Improved (1795) comprised booksellers, teachers, clergymen and relatives, but also members from the rising middle classes. By this time, normative grammars were evidently important to the socially ambitious. Being largely based on Robert Lowth’s Short Introduction to English Grammar (1762) and further anticipating the rise of the usage guide, the book was highly ambitious in content and approach, but ultimately failed to be successful because its publication coincided with Lindley Murray’s phenomenally popular English Grammar, also published in 1795.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- The interplay of language norms and usage patterns. Comparing the history of Dutch, English, French and German 1
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Dutch
- Language norms and language use in seventeenth-century Dutch 21
- Language norms and language use in eighteenth-century Dutch 49
- Norms and usage in nineteenth-century Southern Dutch 73
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English
- Norms and usage in seventeenth-century English 103
- Eighteenth-century English normative grammars and their readers 129
- Nineteenth-century English 151
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French
- From l’usage to le bon usage and back 173
- Jacques-Louis Ménétra and his experience of the langue d’oc 201
- From local to supra-local 223
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German
- Language description, prescription and usage in seventeenth-century German 251
- Standard German in the eighteenth century 277
- Prescriptive norms and norms of usage in nineteenth-century German 303
- Index 321
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- The interplay of language norms and usage patterns. Comparing the history of Dutch, English, French and German 1
-
Dutch
- Language norms and language use in seventeenth-century Dutch 21
- Language norms and language use in eighteenth-century Dutch 49
- Norms and usage in nineteenth-century Southern Dutch 73
-
English
- Norms and usage in seventeenth-century English 103
- Eighteenth-century English normative grammars and their readers 129
- Nineteenth-century English 151
-
French
- From l’usage to le bon usage and back 173
- Jacques-Louis Ménétra and his experience of the langue d’oc 201
- From local to supra-local 223
-
German
- Language description, prescription and usage in seventeenth-century German 251
- Standard German in the eighteenth century 277
- Prescriptive norms and norms of usage in nineteenth-century German 303
- Index 321
