Creator
Noah Webster
Title
A Grammatical Institute of the English Language.
Coverage
Hartford
Publisher
Hudson & Goodwin
Date
1784
Subject
Part II.
Description
Webster (1758–1843), who came of age during the American Revolution, attended Yale and then tried without success to establish a career as both a lawyer and a schoolmaster. He wrote a speller (1783), this grammar (1784), and a reader (1785). Shortly after the grammar appeared, Webster was accused by the pseudonymous Dilworth’s Ghost of “transcribing” others’ work in a “laughable affair.” His written defense against literary theft was that “every [grammarian] whose works I have seen is liable to the charge of plagiarism.” (Cf. no. 42.)