Creator
Noah Webster
Title
A Philosophical and Practical Grammar of the English Language.
Coverage
New Haven
Publisher
Oliver Steele & Co.
Date
1807
Subject
In 1803, Lindley Murray wrote to Noah Webster sending an updated version of Murray’s grammar. For many years, Webster quoted this letter to Murray’s disadvantage. Rather than answer the letter directly, Webster wrote this Philosophical Grammar—a book hopelessly unsuited to classrooms because of its long digressions about far-fetched etymologies. In the book, Webster claimed to understand “the symmetry of the whole edifice” of the English language. Just before releasing the book, Webster engaged in an anti-Murray campaign in the newspapers.