A Grammar of the English Tongue

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Creator

John Brightland & Charles Gildon

Title

A Grammar of the English Tongue

Coverage

London

Publisher

John Brightland

Date

1711

Description

Primary authorship is customarily given to Gildon (1665–1724), described by the Dictionary of National Biography as “one of the most unfortunate scribblers of his time.” He was satirized in Alexander Pope’s Dunciad and denounced by Jonathan Swift. To promote the book, the authors appropriated Swift’s pseudonym—Isaac Bickerstaff—as the book’s “censor” and attributed laudatory comments to him: “Buy, read, and study this Grammar.” By 1714, it was in a third edition.