The Warden of English: The Life of H.W.Fowler (Language Reference)

by JennyMcMorris (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2001

  $4.22

  A biography of the life of Henry Watson Fowler (1858-1933). It tells the story of his work on The King's English , Modern English Usage , the Concise and Pocket Oxford dictionaries, and his collaboration on some of these projects with his brother, Frank. The development of the Fowlers' books is described, from the struggles to achieve an acceptable style for the Concise and Pocket Oxford dictionaries, to the planning and preparation of Modern English Usage . Against the descriptions of Fowler's work is set the story of a man whose career began as a schoolmaster, but who changed career to risk all by moving to London to begin a new life as a writer. Henry then moved to Guernsey, where all his books were written, and at the age of 50 married a nursing-home matron, Jessie Wills. The later chapters chronicle the elderly Henry's struggles with the authorities to be able to enlist during World War I and his adventures as a soldier in France.

• Used

  Paperback
  2002

  $5.55

  '[a] story so poignant, impossible to forget, and exceedingly well told' - Simon Winchester, author of The Surgeon of Crowthorne , in his Foreword. Henry Watson Fowler was born in Tonbridge, Kent, in 1858. This is the first full biography of a man whose Modern English Usage has become a classic text known simply as Fowler . It is based on meticulous research from previously unpublished papers, letters, and material from the Oxford University Press archives, and tells the story of his work on The King's English and the Concise and Pocket Oxford Dictionaries , as well as on Modern English Usage , and of his collaboration on some of these projects with his brother Frank. Against the descriptions of Fowler's work is set the story of a man whose career began as a schoolmaster, but who moved to London to begin a new life as a writer. Jenny McMorris chronicles the life of a fascinating and colourful figure who, amongst other things, found love and married at the age of 50, and despite his advancing years enlisted during World War I. Written to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the publication of Fowler's Modern English Usage , this fascinating account of one of the most influential figures in the history of the development of the English language gives an insight into the man behind the scholar.