Creator
William Kenrick
Title
“A Rhetorical Grammar of the English Language,” in A New Dictionary of the English Language.
Coverage
London
Publisher
J. & F. Rivington
Date
1773
Description
Kenrick (1729–1779), the son of a corset-maker, was a Grub Street writer who was rarely without a public enemy. Writing always with a bottle of brandy at his side, he thought he could complete even the most challenging literary tasks in no more than two days. Kenrick repeatedly tried to manufacture controversy where there was none, launching scurrilous attacks against Samuel Johnson, David Garrick, and Oliver Goldsmith. They mostly ignored him. His dictionary was largely lifted from Johnson’s.