“No criticism or remarks & pray burn it as fast as you read it”
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Tino Oudesluijs
Abstract
Building on what has been written about copy letters and copying practices in Late Modern English correspondence, this paper explores the copying behaviour of a highly cultured and well-connected woman in eighteenth-century British polite society, Mary Hamilton (1756–1816), by closely scrutinising a selection of her writings containing material copied from various other letters. Close attention is paid to what linguistic features were changed in the copying process, which is contextualised and subsequently discussed in the appropriate socio-historical context. The case studies reveal that various linguistic elements were changed in the copying process, part of which can be attributed to changes in addressee, Hamilton’s expectations of who else might read her writings, and how her letters would have been delivered.
Abstract
Building on what has been written about copy letters and copying practices in Late Modern English correspondence, this paper explores the copying behaviour of a highly cultured and well-connected woman in eighteenth-century British polite society, Mary Hamilton (1756–1816), by closely scrutinising a selection of her writings containing material copied from various other letters. Close attention is paid to what linguistic features were changed in the copying process, which is contextualised and subsequently discussed in the appropriate socio-historical context. The case studies reveal that various linguistic elements were changed in the copying process, part of which can be attributed to changes in addressee, Hamilton’s expectations of who else might read her writings, and how her letters would have been delivered.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction 1
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Part I. Pragmatics and prescriptivism
- Researching understatement in the history of English 10
- The rise and fall of sentence-internal capitalization in English 33
- Gender, genre, and prescriptivism 60
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Part II. Political, legal and medical text types
- A manipulative technique in a congressional debate 86
- Is legal discourse really “outside the ravages of time”? 101
- Duties, offices, and conduct 129
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Part III. The language of late modern letters
- Changing styles of letter-writing? 154
- “No criticism or remarks & pray burn it as fast as you read it” 180
- Filled-in petition forms and hand-drafted petitions to the Foundling Hospital 198
- “Quhen I am begun to write I really knou not what to say” 225
- Index 251
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword vii
- Introduction 1
-
Part I. Pragmatics and prescriptivism
- Researching understatement in the history of English 10
- The rise and fall of sentence-internal capitalization in English 33
- Gender, genre, and prescriptivism 60
-
Part II. Political, legal and medical text types
- A manipulative technique in a congressional debate 86
- Is legal discourse really “outside the ravages of time”? 101
- Duties, offices, and conduct 129
-
Part III. The language of late modern letters
- Changing styles of letter-writing? 154
- “No criticism or remarks & pray burn it as fast as you read it” 180
- Filled-in petition forms and hand-drafted petitions to the Foundling Hospital 198
- “Quhen I am begun to write I really knou not what to say” 225
- Index 251
