Creator
Elizabeth Elstob
Title
The Rudiments of Grammar for the English-Saxon Tongue.
Coverage
London
Publisher
J. Bowyer & C. King
Date
1715
Description
As a teenager in the 1690s, Elstob (1683–1756) pursued Anglo-Saxon studies with a group of Oxford scholars, including her brother William—a fellow at University College. In 1708 she published two books: her translation of a French work and a Latin text with Old English glosses. Then came a 1709 edition of a 10th-century homily by Ælfric. The Rudiments, her last book, is a remarkable feat: the first grammar of Old English ever published. Her incisive intellect is on full display in the preface, where she cheerfully derides Jonathan Swift.