Henry Watson Fowler
Encyclopedia
Henry Watson Fowler was an English
schoolmaster, lexicographer and commentator on the usage of the English language
. He is notable for both A Dictionary of Modern English Usage and his work on the Concise Oxford Dictionary, and was described by The Times
as "a lexicographical genius".
After an Oxford education, Fowler was a schoolmaster until his middle age and then worked in London as a freelance writer and journalist, but was not very successful. In partnership with his brother Francis
, and beginning in 1906, he began publishing seminal grammar, style and lexicography books. After his brother's death in 1918, he completed the works on which they had collaborated and edited additional works.
, Kent
. His parents, the Rev. Robert Fowler and his wife Caroline, née Watson, were originally from Devon
. Robert Fowler was a Cambridge
graduate, clergyman, and schoolmaster. At the time of Henry's birth he was teaching mathematics at Tonbridge School
, but the family soon moved to nearby Tunbridge Wells
. Henry was the eldest child of seven, and his father's early death in 1879 left him to assume a leading role in caring for his younger brothers and sister (Charles, Alexander, [Edward] Seymour, Edith, Arthur, Francis
and [Herbert] Samuel).
Henry Fowler spent some time at a boarding school in Germany before enrolling at Rugby School
in 1871. He concentrated in Latin and Greek, winning a school prize for his translation into Greek verse of part of Percy Bysshe Shelley
's play Prometheus Unbound. He also took part in drama and debating and in his final year served as head of his house, School House. He was greatly inspired by one of his classics teachers, Robert Whitelaw, with whom he kept up a correspondence later in life.
In 1877 Fowler began attending Balliol College
, Oxford
. He did not excel at Oxford as he had at Rugby, earning only second-class honours
in both Moderations
and Literae Humaniores
. Although he participated little in Oxford sport, he did begin a practice that he was to continue for the rest of his life: a daily morning run followed by a swim in the nearest body of water. He left Oxford in 1881, but was not awarded a degree until 1886, because he failed to pass his Divinity examination.
Trusting in the judgement of the Balliol College master that he had "a natural aptitude for the profession of Schoolmaster", Fowler took up a temporary teaching position at Fettes College
in Edinburgh
. After spending two terms there, he moved south again to Yorkshire
(present-day Cumbria
) to begin a mastership at Sedbergh School
in 1882. There he taught Latin, Greek and English, starting with the first form, but soon switching to the sixth form
. He was a respected but uninspiring teacher, earning the nickname "Joey Stinker" owing to his propensity for tobacco smoking.
Several of the Fowler brothers were reunited at Sedbergh. Charles Fowler taught temporarily at the school during the illness of one of the house masters. Arthur Fowler had transferred from Rugby to Sedbergh for his last eighteen months at school and later became a master there. Samuel, the troublesome youngest brother, was sent to Sedbergh, probably to be taken care of by Henry and Arthur, but he only stayed a year before leaving the school, and of him nothing further is known. Henry Fowler made several lifelong friends at Sedbergh, who often accompanied him on holiday to the Alps. These included Ralph St John Ainslie, a music teacher and caricaturist; E. P. Lemarchand, whose sister eventually married Arthur Fowler; Bernard Tower, who went on to become headmaster at Lancing
; and George Coulton
, who was to write the first biography of Fowler.
Despite being the son of a clergyman, Fowler had been an atheist for quite some time, though he rarely spoke of his beliefs in public. He had the chance of becoming a housemaster at Sedbergh on three occasions. The third offer was accompanied by a long discussion with the headmaster, Henry Hart, about the religious requirements for the post, which included preparing the boys for confirmation in the Church of England
. This was against Fowler's principles, and when it became clear that no compromise on this matter was possible, he resigned.
, London
, and sought work as a freelance writer and journalist, surviving on his meagre writer's earnings and a small inheritance from his father. In his first published article, "Books We Think We Have Read" (1900), he first discusses the habit among Englishmen of pretending a familiarity with certain books—such as the works of Shakespeare
or books considered "juvenile"—then proceeds to recommend that the savouring of these books should be "no tossing off of ardent spirits, but the connoisseur's deliberate rolling in the mouth of some old vintage". In "Outdoor London", published a year later in the short-lived Anglo-Saxon Review
, Fowler describes the sights and sounds of his new home, praising its plants, its Cockney inhabitants, and its magical night scenes.
, where he worked with his brother Francis George Fowler
. Their first joint project was a translation of the works of Lucian of Samosata
. The translation, described by The Times as of "remarkable quality" was taken up by the Oxford University Press
and published in four volumes in 1905. Their next work was The King's English
(1906), a book meant to encourage writers to be stylistically simple and direct and not to misuse words. This book "took the world by storm".
Fowler collected some of his journalistic articles into volumes and published them pseudonymously, including More Popular Fallacies (1904) by "Quillet", and Si mihi —! (1907) by "Egomet". In 1908, on his fiftieth birthday, he married Jessie Marian Wills (1862–1930). It was an exceptionally happy, but childless, marriage.
The Oxford University Press commissioned from the Fowler brothers a single-volume abridgement of the Oxford English Dictionary
(O.E.D.), which was published as the Concise Oxford Dictionary
in 1911. The Concise Oxford has remained in print ever since, being regularly revised.
The next commission for the brothers was a much smaller, pocket-sized abridgement of the O.E.D. At the same time they were working on Modern English Usage; work on both began in 1911, with Henry Fowler concentrating on Modern English Usage and Francis on the pocket dictionary. Neither work was complete at the start of World War I
.
In 1914, Fowler and his younger brother volunteered for service in the British army. To gain acceptance, the 56-year-old Henry lied about his age. Both he and Francis were invalided out of the army in 1916 and resumed work on Modern English Usage. In 1918, Francis died aged 47 of tuberculosis
, contracted during service with the B.E.F. After his brother's death, Henry Fowler and his wife moved to Hinton St. George in Somerset
, where he worked on the Pocket Oxford Dictionary and Modern English Usage, which he dedicated to his brother.
directed his officials to read it. The success of the book was such that the publishers had to reprint it three times in the first year of publication, and there were a further twelve reprints before a second edition was finally commissioned in the 1960s.
On the death of its original editor in 1922, Fowler helped complete the first edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
, under the editorship of C.T. Onions.
In 1929 Fowler republished Si mihi—! under his own name as If Wishes were Horses, and another volume of old journalistic articles under the title Some Comparative Values.
Fowler died at his home, "Sunnyside", Hinton St George, England, aged 75.
for the second edition (1965) and largely rewritten by Robert Burchfield
for the third (1996). A Pocket edition (ISBN 0-19-860947-7) edited by Robert Allen, based on Burchfield's edition, is available online to subscribers of the Oxford Reference On-line Premium collection.
A biography of Fowler was published in 2001 called The Warden of English. The author was Jenny McMorris (1946-2002), archivist to the Oxford English Dictionary at the Oxford University Press. The Times described the book as "an acclaimed and meticulously researched biography". The Word Man, a play about Fowler's life and career by the writer Chris Harrald, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4
's Afternoon Play
on 17 January 2008.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
schoolmaster, lexicographer and commentator on the usage of the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. He is notable for both A Dictionary of Modern English Usage and his work on the Concise Oxford Dictionary, and was described by The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
as "a lexicographical genius".
After an Oxford education, Fowler was a schoolmaster until his middle age and then worked in London as a freelance writer and journalist, but was not very successful. In partnership with his brother Francis
Francis George Fowler
Francis George Fowler , familiarly known as F.G. Fowler, was an English writer on English language, grammar and usage.Born in Tunbridge Wells, F. G. Fowler was educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge. He lived on Guernsey in the Channel Islands...
, and beginning in 1906, he began publishing seminal grammar, style and lexicography books. After his brother's death in 1918, he completed the works on which they had collaborated and edited additional works.
Youth and studies
Fowler was born on 10 March 1858 in TonbridgeTonbridge
Tonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 30,340 in 2007. It is located on the River Medway, approximately 4 miles north of Tunbridge Wells, 12 miles south west of Maidstone and 29 miles south east of London...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. His parents, the Rev. Robert Fowler and his wife Caroline, née Watson, were originally from Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
. Robert Fowler was a Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
graduate, clergyman, and schoolmaster. At the time of Henry's birth he was teaching mathematics at Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School is a British boys' independent school for both boarding and day pupils in Tonbridge, Kent, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judd . It is a member of the Eton Group, and has close links with the Worshipful Company of Skinners, one of the oldest London livery companies...
, but the family soon moved to nearby Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in west Kent, England, about south-east of central London by road, by rail. The town is close to the border of the county of East Sussex...
. Henry was the eldest child of seven, and his father's early death in 1879 left him to assume a leading role in caring for his younger brothers and sister (Charles, Alexander, [Edward] Seymour, Edith, Arthur, Francis
Francis George Fowler
Francis George Fowler , familiarly known as F.G. Fowler, was an English writer on English language, grammar and usage.Born in Tunbridge Wells, F. G. Fowler was educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge. He lived on Guernsey in the Channel Islands...
and [Herbert] Samuel).
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
in 1871. He concentrated in Latin and Greek, winning a school prize for his translation into Greek verse of part of Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
's play Prometheus Unbound. He also took part in drama and debating and in his final year served as head of his house, School House. He was greatly inspired by one of his classics teachers, Robert Whitelaw, with whom he kept up a correspondence later in life.
In 1877 Fowler began attending Balliol College
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
, Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. He did not excel at Oxford as he had at Rugby, earning only second-class honours
British undergraduate degree classification
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for undergraduate degrees in the United Kingdom...
in both Moderations
Honour Moderations
Honour Moderations are a first set of examinations at Oxford University in England during the first part of the degree course for some courses ....
and Literae Humaniores
Literae Humaniores
Literae Humaniores is the name given to an undergraduate course focused on Classics at Oxford and some other universities.The Latin name means literally "more humane letters", but is perhaps better rendered as "Advanced Studies", since humaniores has the sense of "more refined" or "more learned",...
. Although he participated little in Oxford sport, he did begin a practice that he was to continue for the rest of his life: a daily morning run followed by a swim in the nearest body of water. He left Oxford in 1881, but was not awarded a degree until 1886, because he failed to pass his Divinity examination.
Teaching
Fettes College
Fettes College is an independent school for boarding and day pupils in Edinburgh, Scotland with over two thirds of its pupils in residence on campus...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. After spending two terms there, he moved south again to Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
(present-day Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
) to begin a mastership at Sedbergh School
Sedbergh School
Sedbergh School is a boarding school in Sedbergh, Cumbria, for boys and girls aged 13 to 18. Nestled in the Howgill Fells, it is known for sporting sides, such as its Rugby Union 1st XV.-Background:...
in 1882. There he taught Latin, Greek and English, starting with the first form, but soon switching to the sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...
. He was a respected but uninspiring teacher, earning the nickname "Joey Stinker" owing to his propensity for tobacco smoking.
Several of the Fowler brothers were reunited at Sedbergh. Charles Fowler taught temporarily at the school during the illness of one of the house masters. Arthur Fowler had transferred from Rugby to Sedbergh for his last eighteen months at school and later became a master there. Samuel, the troublesome youngest brother, was sent to Sedbergh, probably to be taken care of by Henry and Arthur, but he only stayed a year before leaving the school, and of him nothing further is known. Henry Fowler made several lifelong friends at Sedbergh, who often accompanied him on holiday to the Alps. These included Ralph St John Ainslie, a music teacher and caricaturist; E. P. Lemarchand, whose sister eventually married Arthur Fowler; Bernard Tower, who went on to become headmaster at Lancing
Lancing College
Lancing College is a co-educational English independent school in the British public school tradition, founded in 1848 by Nathaniel Woodard. Woodard's aim was to provide education "based on sound principle and sound knowledge, firmly grounded in the Christian faith." Lancing was the first of a...
; and George Coulton
G. G. Coulton
George Gordon Coulton FBA was a British historian, known for numerous works on medieval history. He was known also as a keen controversialist....
, who was to write the first biography of Fowler.
Despite being the son of a clergyman, Fowler had been an atheist for quite some time, though he rarely spoke of his beliefs in public. He had the chance of becoming a housemaster at Sedbergh on three occasions. The third offer was accompanied by a long discussion with the headmaster, Henry Hart, about the religious requirements for the post, which included preparing the boys for confirmation in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. This was against Fowler's principles, and when it became clear that no compromise on this matter was possible, he resigned.
London
In the summer of 1899 Fowler moved to a house in ChelseaChelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and sought work as a freelance writer and journalist, surviving on his meagre writer's earnings and a small inheritance from his father. In his first published article, "Books We Think We Have Read" (1900), he first discusses the habit among Englishmen of pretending a familiarity with certain books—such as the works of Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
or books considered "juvenile"—then proceeds to recommend that the savouring of these books should be "no tossing off of ardent spirits, but the connoisseur's deliberate rolling in the mouth of some old vintage". In "Outdoor London", published a year later in the short-lived Anglo-Saxon Review
The Anglo-Saxon Review
The Anglo-Saxon Review was a quarterly miscellany edited by Lady Randolph Spencer Churchill, and published in London by John Lane. It was short lived, running from June 1899 to September 1901. Her son Winston Churchill was one of her devoted advisors during the months preceding publication...
, Fowler describes the sights and sounds of his new home, praising its plants, its Cockney inhabitants, and its magical night scenes.
Writing partnership
In 1903, he moved to the island of GuernseyGuernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...
, where he worked with his brother Francis George Fowler
Francis George Fowler
Francis George Fowler , familiarly known as F.G. Fowler, was an English writer on English language, grammar and usage.Born in Tunbridge Wells, F. G. Fowler was educated at Peterhouse, Cambridge. He lived on Guernsey in the Channel Islands...
. Their first joint project was a translation of the works of Lucian of Samosata
Lucian
Lucian of Samosata was a rhetorician and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature.His ethnicity is disputed and is attributed as Assyrian according to Frye and Parpola, and Syrian according to Joseph....
. The translation, described by The Times as of "remarkable quality" was taken up by the Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
and published in four volumes in 1905. Their next work was The King's English
The King's English
The King's English is a book on English usage and grammar. It was written by the Fowler brothers, Henry Watson Fowler and Francis George Fowler, and published in 1906, and thus pre-dates by 20 years Modern English Usage, which was written by Henry alone after Francis's death in 1918.The King's...
(1906), a book meant to encourage writers to be stylistically simple and direct and not to misuse words. This book "took the world by storm".
Fowler collected some of his journalistic articles into volumes and published them pseudonymously, including More Popular Fallacies (1904) by "Quillet", and Si mihi —! (1907) by "Egomet". In 1908, on his fiftieth birthday, he married Jessie Marian Wills (1862–1930). It was an exceptionally happy, but childless, marriage.
The Oxford University Press commissioned from the Fowler brothers a single-volume abridgement of the Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
(O.E.D.), which was published as the Concise Oxford Dictionary
Concise Oxford English Dictionary
The Concise Oxford English Dictionary is probably the best-known of the 'smaller' Oxford dictionaries. The latest edition of the Concise Oxford English Dictionary contains over 240,000 entries and 1,728 pages...
in 1911. The Concise Oxford has remained in print ever since, being regularly revised.
The next commission for the brothers was a much smaller, pocket-sized abridgement of the O.E.D. At the same time they were working on Modern English Usage; work on both began in 1911, with Henry Fowler concentrating on Modern English Usage and Francis on the pocket dictionary. Neither work was complete at the start of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
In 1914, Fowler and his younger brother volunteered for service in the British army. To gain acceptance, the 56-year-old Henry lied about his age. Both he and Francis were invalided out of the army in 1916 and resumed work on Modern English Usage. In 1918, Francis died aged 47 of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, contracted during service with the B.E.F. After his brother's death, Henry Fowler and his wife moved to Hinton St. George in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, where he worked on the Pocket Oxford Dictionary and Modern English Usage, which he dedicated to his brother.
Later years
A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, considered by many to be the definitive style guide to the English language, "made the name of Fowler a household word in all English-speaking countries". The Times described it as a "fascinating, formidable book". Winston ChurchillWinston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
directed his officials to read it. The success of the book was such that the publishers had to reprint it three times in the first year of publication, and there were a further twelve reprints before a second edition was finally commissioned in the 1960s.
On the death of its original editor in 1922, Fowler helped complete the first edition of the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, often abbreviated to SOED, is a scaled-down version of the Oxford English Dictionary . It comprises two volumes rather than the twenty needed for the full second edition of the OED...
, under the editorship of C.T. Onions.
In 1929 Fowler republished Si mihi—! under his own name as If Wishes were Horses, and another volume of old journalistic articles under the title Some Comparative Values.
Fowler died at his home, "Sunnyside", Hinton St George, England, aged 75.
Legacy
Currently, The King's English and Modern English Usage remain in print. The latter was updated by Sir Ernest GowersErnest Gowers
Sir Ernest Arthur Gowers GCB GBE Hon. D.Litt Hon. ARIBA was a British civil servant, now best known for work on style guides for writing the English language.-Life:...
for the second edition (1965) and largely rewritten by Robert Burchfield
Robert Burchfield
Robert William Burchfield CNZM CBE was a scholar, writer, and lexicographer.Born in Wanganui, New Zealand, he studied at Wanganui Technical College and Victoria University in Wellington...
for the third (1996). A Pocket edition (ISBN 0-19-860947-7) edited by Robert Allen, based on Burchfield's edition, is available online to subscribers of the Oxford Reference On-line Premium collection.
A biography of Fowler was published in 2001 called The Warden of English. The author was Jenny McMorris (1946-2002), archivist to the Oxford English Dictionary at the Oxford University Press. The Times described the book as "an acclaimed and meticulously researched biography". The Word Man, a play about Fowler's life and career by the writer Chris Harrald, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's Afternoon Play
Afternoon Play
The Afternoon Play is a long-running drama programming strand, broadcast every weekday at 2.15pm on BBC Radio 4. Each play lasts for 45 minutes, and roughly 190 new Afternoon Plays are broadcast each year....
on 17 January 2008.
Books
- More Popular Fallacies. London: Elliot Stock, 1904.
- with F. G. Fowler, trans. The Works of LucianLucianLucian of Samosata was a rhetorician and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature.His ethnicity is disputed and is attributed as Assyrian according to Frye and Parpola, and Syrian according to Joseph....
. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905. - with F. G. Fowler. The King's EnglishThe King's EnglishThe King's English is a book on English usage and grammar. It was written by the Fowler brothers, Henry Watson Fowler and Francis George Fowler, and published in 1906, and thus pre-dates by 20 years Modern English Usage, which was written by Henry alone after Francis's death in 1918.The King's...
. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906. - Sentence Analysis. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1906.
- Si Mihi! London: Brown, Langham, 1907.
- reissued as If Wishes Were Horses. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1929.
- Between Boy and Man. London: Watts, 1908.
- with F. G. Fowler. The King's EnglishThe King's EnglishThe King's English is a book on English usage and grammar. It was written by the Fowler brothers, Henry Watson Fowler and Francis George Fowler, and published in 1906, and thus pre-dates by 20 years Modern English Usage, which was written by Henry alone after Francis's death in 1918.The King's...
, abridged edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1908. - with F. G. Fowler. Concise Oxford Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911 [2nd edition, 1929].
- with F. G. Fowler. Pocket Oxford Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.
- A Dictionary of Modern English Usage. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1926.
- Some Comparative Values. Oxford: Blackwell, 1929.
- Rhymes of Darby to Joan. London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1931.
- with W. Little and J. Coulson. Shorter Oxford English DictionaryShorter Oxford English DictionaryThe Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, often abbreviated to SOED, is a scaled-down version of the Oxford English Dictionary . It comprises two volumes rather than the twenty needed for the full second edition of the OED...
. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1933.
Articles
- "Books We Think We Have Read". SpectatorThe SpectatorThe Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
, 20 January 1900. - "Outdoor London". Anglo-Saxon ReviewThe Anglo-Saxon ReviewThe Anglo-Saxon Review was a quarterly miscellany edited by Lady Randolph Spencer Churchill, and published in London by John Lane. It was short lived, running from June 1899 to September 1901. Her son Winston Churchill was one of her devoted advisors during the months preceding publication...
, June 1901. - "Irony and Some Synonyms". Gentleman's MagazineThe Gentleman's MagazineThe Gentleman's Magazine was founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term "magazine" for a periodical...
, October 1901, 378. - "Quotation". Longman's Magazine, January 1901, 241.
- "On Hyphens, 'Shall' & 'Will', 'Should' 'Would' in the Newspapers of Today". Society for Pure English Tract 6. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1921.
- "Note on 'as to'". Society for Pure English Tract 8. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1922.
- "Grammatical Inversions". Society for Pure English Tract 10. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1923.
- "Preposition at End". Society for Pure English Tract 14. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1923.
- "Split Infinitive, &c." Society for Pure English Tract 15. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1923.
- "Subjunctives". Society for Pure English Tract 18. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.
- "Notes on fasci, fascisti, broadcast(ed)". Society for Pure English Tract 19. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1925.
- "Italic, Fused Participles, &c." Society for Pure English Tract 22. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1925.
- "Ing". Society for Pure English Tract 26. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1927.
- "Comprise". Society for Pure English Tract 36. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1925.
External links
(translation of the works of Lucian)- The King's English at Bartleby.comBartleby.comBartleby.com is an electronic text archive, headquartered in New York and named after Herman Melville's story "Bartleby the Scrivener". It was founded under the name "Project Bartleby" in January 1993 by Steven H. van Leeuwen as a personal, non-profit collection of classic literature on the website...