A New Grammar by Joseph Priestley (1733–1804). (May 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Godard, Thomas
• Is Part Of: Language & history. Volume 58:Number 1(2015:May)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 23
• Publication Date: 2015-05
• Subjects: Joseph Priestley, -- authorship, -- English grammar, -- attribution studies, -- John Baskerville, -- plagiarism; Linguistics -- History -- Periodicals; 410.9
• DOI: 10.1179/1759753615Z.00000000036
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1759-7536

Abstract

Abstract : In this article I use methods drawn from attribution studies to demonstrate that Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) was the author of the anonymous grammar prefixed to the Vocabulary, or Pocket Dictionary (1765), hitherto attributed to the printer John Baskerville (1706–75). I first look at external — mostly biographical — evidence which shows that Baskerville is very unlikely to have authored the grammar. By contrast, internal evidence reveals compelling similarities between the grammar in question and Joseph Priestley's work. In particular, I used plagiarism software to show that a large proportion of the 1765 grammar anticipated word for word the second edition of Priestley's Rudiments of English Grammar (1768). It also anticipated some of the key conceptual innovations of the 1768 Rudiments with regards to the division of the grammar, the definitions of parts of speech, and the use of sourced examples to illustrate usage remarks. I conclude that introducing this new item into the corpus of Priestley's grammatical works changes the picture we have of their evolution and opens the way for us to reconsider their relation to Priestley's more philosophical discussion of language in his 1762 Lectures on the Theory of Language, and Universal Grammar .