Creator
Joseph Priestley
Title
The Rudiments of English Grammar.
Coverage
London
Publisher
T. Becket et al.
Date
1768
Subject
2d. ed
Description
Priestley (1733–1804), the scientist credited with discovering oxygen, was the greatest 18th-century intellect to give intense study to grammar. He rebelled against English grammarians’ being too heavily influenced by Latin. And he was among the earliest English-language grammarians to embrace the idea that universal usage governs propriety. He may have been the first to defend He is taller than me (treating than as a preposition) over the more orthodox He is taller than I (treating than as a conjunction).