Lowth
“I was born in my Father’s Prebendal house in the Close Winchester, Novr. 27.1710”, Robert Lowth wrote in his brief Memoirs in the early 1780s. This year, 2010, it is therefore three hundred years ago that he was born, and due to his position as Bishop of London, his publications and especially his grammar published in 1762 we may rightly call 2010 the Robert Lowth Year.
The grammar was the most controversial of his publications. It was immediately popular and soon developed into a standard grammar of English, but it contains many critical footnotes, highlighting grammatical mistakes by “our best authors”. This earned Lowth a reputation today as an icon of prescriptivsm, and it has led to many prejudices about him, both among the general public and among linguists. It is the aim of The Bishop’s Grammar by Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade to set all this straight. The book will come out later this year.
Lowth wrote many letters, but also poetry, such as an elegy on his daughter Molly’s death in 1768. This website will also deal with prejudices against Lowth and present some of the most important grammatical strictures, each of which has a history of its own.
Prejudices, Errors, Misconceptions
