Editing Robert Lowth

{{Short description|English bishop and grammarian (1710–1787)}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| honorific-prefix = {{pre-nominal styles|size=100%|RRevd|&RHPC}}
| name = Robert Lowth 
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS|size=100%}}
| title = [[Bishop of London]]
| image = Robert Lowth, after RE Pine.jpg
| caption = Portrait by [[Robert Edge Pine]]
| church = [[Church of England]]
| diocese = [[Diocese of London]]
| elected = 1777
| predecessor = [[Richard Terrick]]
| successor = [[Beilby Porteus]]
| other_post = [[Bishop of Oxford]]<br />1766–1777<br />[[Bishop of St&nbsp;Davids]]<br />1766<br />[[Archdeacon of Bournemouth|Archdeacon of Winchester]]<br />1750–1766<br />[[Professor of Poetry]]<br />1741–1752
<!---------- Orders ---------->
| ordination = 1735
| consecration = 1766
<!---------- Personal details ---------->
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1710|11|27}}
| birth_place = [[Hampshire]], England
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1787|11|3|1710|11|27}}
| buried = [[All Saints Church, Fulham]]
| nationality = British
| religion = [[Anglicanism|Anglican]]
| parents = [[William Lowth]]
| profession = Academic (poetry & English [[grammar]])
| alma_mater = [[New College, Oxford]]
}}
'''Robert Lowth''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FRS}} ({{IPAc-en|l|aʊ|ð}} {{respell|LOWDH}}; 27 November 1710 – 3 November 1787) was an English clergyman and academic who served as the [[Bishop of Oxford]], [[Bishop of St&nbsp;Davids]], [[Professor of Poetry]] and the author of one of the most influential [[History of English grammars|
textbooks of English grammar]].

==Life==
Lowth was born in [[Hampshire]], [[England]], Great Britain, the son of Dr [[William Lowth]], a clergyman and Biblical commentator. He was educated at [[Winchester College]] and became a scholar of [[New College, Oxford]] in 1729. Lowth obtained his [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in 1733 and his [[Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin)|Master of Arts]] degree in 1737. In 1735, while still at Oxford, Lowth took orders in the [[Anglicanism|Anglican Church]] and was appointed vicar of [[Ovington, Hampshire]], a position he retained until 1741, when he was appointed [[Oxford Professor of Poetry]].

Bishop Lowth made a translation of the [[Book of Isaiah]], first published in 1778. The [[Seventh-day Adventist]] theologian [[Ellet J. Waggoner|E. J. Waggoner]] said in 1899 that Lowth's translation of Isaiah was "without doubt, as a whole, the best English translation of the prophecy of [[Isaiah]]".

In 1750 he was appointed [[Archdeacon of Bournemouth|Archdeacon of Winchester]]. In 1752 he resigned the professorship at Oxford and married Mary Jackson. Shortly afterwards, in 1753, Lowth was appointed [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of [[East Woodhay]]. In 1754 he was awarded a [[Doctor of Divinity|Doctorate in Divinity]] by Oxford University, for his treatise on [[Biblical poetry|Hebrew poetry]] entitled ''Praelectiones Academicae de Sacra Poesi Hebraeorum'' (''On the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews''). This derives from a series of lectures and was originally published in Latin. An English translation was published by [[George Gregory (British writer)|George Gregory]] in 1787 as ''"Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews"''. This and subsequent editions include the life of Bishop Lowth as a preface. There was a further edition issued in 1815. This was republished in North America in 1829 with some additional notes. However, apart from those notes, the 1829 edition is less useful to a modern reader. This is because the editor of that edition chose to revert to citing many of the scriptural passages that Lowth uses as examples, and some of the annotations by [[Johann David Michaelis|Michaelis]]) and others, in Latin.

Lowth was appointed a fellow of the [[Royal Society|Royal Societies]] of London and [[Göttingen]] in 1765. He was consecrated [[bishop of St&nbsp;Davids]] in Wales in 1766; however, before the end of the year he was translated to the English [[bishop of Oxford|see of Oxford]]. He remained Bishop of Oxford until 1777 when he was appointed [[Bishop of London]] as well as [[dean of the chapel royal]] and [[privy councillor]]. In 1783 he was offered the chance to become [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], but declined due to failing health.

Lowth was good friends with the [[Scottish Enlightenment]] figure [[David Hume]], as noted by the prominent Scottish bookseller [[Andrew Millar]]. Millar commented that "Hume and he are very great, tho' one orthodox and ye other Hedretox".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.millar-project.ed.ac.uk/manuscripts/html_output/1.html|title=The manuscripts, Letter from Andrew Millar to Andrew Mitchell, 26 August, 1766. University of Edinburgh.|website=millar-project.ed.ac.uk|access-date=2 June 2016}}</ref>

Lowth wrote a Latin epitaph, ''Cara, Vale'' ("Dear one, farewell!") on the death of his daughter Maria. Much admired in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it was set to music by the English composer [[John Wall Callcott]].<ref>From ''New England Magazine'', 1834 [http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Cara_vale_(John_Wall_Callcott) Cara vale (John Wall Callcott)], accessed 20 February 2018</ref>

[[Image:RobertLowthMonument01.jpg|thumb|right|225px|Funerary monument, All Saints, Fulham, London]]

Lowth died in 1787, and was buried in the churchyard of [[All Saints Church, Fulham]]. Lowth's library was sold by auction by R. H. Evans on 15 January 1823 and five following days, along with the books of his son (also Robert, Rector of Hinton Ampnor, d. 1822). There is a copy of the catalogue at Cambridge University Library (shelfmark Munby.c.126(1)).

==Old Testament scholarship==
Lowth seems to have been the first modern Bible scholar to notice or draw attention to the poetic structure of the [[Psalms]] and much of the prophetic literature of the [[Old Testament]]. In Lecture 19 he sets out the classic statement of [[Parallelism (rhetoric)|parallelism]], which remains the most fundamental category for understanding Hebrew poetry. He identifies three forms of parallelism, the synonymous, antithetic and synthetic (i.e., balance only in the manner of expression without either [[synonym]]y or [[antithesis]]). This idea has been influential in Old Testament Studies to the present day.

==Work on English grammar==
Lowth is also remembered for his publication in 1762 of ''A Short Introduction to English Grammar''.  Prompted by the absence of simple and [[Pedagogy|pedagogical]] [[grammar]] textbooks in his day, Lowth set out to remedy the situation.  Lowth's grammar is the source of many of the prescriptive [[shibboleth]]s that are studied in schools, and established him as the first of a long line of usage commentators who judge the English language in addition to describing it.  An example of both is one of his footnotes: "''Whose'' is by some authors made the [[possessive case]] of ''which'', and applied to things as well as persons; I think, improperly."

His most famous contribution to the study of grammar may have been his tentative suggestion that sentences ending with a [[preposition]]—such as "what did you ask for?"—are inappropriate in formal writing. (This is known as [[preposition stranding]].) In what may have been intentional [[self-reference]], Lowth used that very construction in discussing it.  "This is an Idiom which our language is strongly inclined to; it prevails in common conversation, and suits very well with the familiar style in writing; but the placing of the Preposition before the Relative is more graceful, as well as more perspicuous; and agrees much better with the solemn and elevated Style."<sup>[[#Notes|2]]</sup> Others had previously expressed this opinion; the earliest known is [[John Dryden]] in 1672.

Lowth's method included criticising "false syntax"; his examples of false syntax were culled from Shakespeare, the [[King James Version of the Bible|King James Bible]], [[John Donne]], [[John Milton]], [[Jonathan Swift]], [[Alexander Pope]], and other famous writers.  His understanding of grammar, like that of all linguists of his period, was influenced by the study of [[Latin]], though he was aware that this was problematic and condemned "forcing the English under the rules of a foreign Language"<sup>[[#Notes|1]]</sup>.  Thus Lowth condemns [[Joseph Addison|Addison]]'s sentence "Who should I meet the other night, but my old friend?" on the grounds that the thing acted upon should be in the "Objective Case" (corresponding, as he says earlier, to an [[oblique case]] in Latin), rather than taking this example and others as evidence from noted writers that "who" can refer to direct objects.

Lowth's dogmatic assertions appealed to those who wished for certainty and authority in their language.  Lowth's grammar was not written for children; however, within a decade after it appeared, versions of it adapted for the use of schools had appeared, and Lowth's stylistic opinions acquired the force of law in the schoolroom. The textbook remained in standard usage throughout educational institutions until the early 20th century.
{{further|History of English grammars}}

==Literary critic==
Lowth has been regarded as the first imagery critic of Shakespeare's plays and highlighted the importance of the imagery in the interpretation of motives and actions of characters and dramatic movement of the plot and narrative structure.<sup>[[#Notes|3]]</sup>

==See also==
*[[Linguistic prescription]]
*[[Lindley Murray]]

==Notes==<!-- This section is linked from [[Robert Lowth]] -->
*<sup>1</sup>''A Short Introduction to English Grammar'', p.&nbsp;107, condemning [[Richard Bentley]]'s "corrections" of some of [[John Milton|Milton]]'s constructions.
*<sup>2</sup>''A Short Introduction to English Grammar''., pp.&nbsp;127–128.
*<sup>3</sup>"Notes & Queries (OUP)" in 1983 Vol. 30, pp. 55–58 by Sailendra Kumar Sen, ''Robert Lowth :the first imagery critic of Shakespeare''.

==Citations==
<references/>

==Further reading==
*[[Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade]], "The anonymity of Lowth's grammar". In: ''Ontheven aan de tijd. Linguïstisch-historische studies voor Jan Noordegraaf bij zijn zestigste verjaardag''. Ed. by Lo van Driel & Theo Janssen. Amsterdam: Stichting Neerlandistiek VU, Amsterdam & Münster: Nodus Publikationen 2008, 125–134.
* Tieken-Boon van Ostade, I. M. (2010), ''The Bishop's Grammar: Robert Lowth and the Rise of Prescriptivism''. Oxford: OUP

==External links==
{{wikisource|The Gentleman's Magazine/Some Account and Character of the late Robert Lowth, D.D. Lord Bishop of London|Some Account and Character of the late Robert Lowth, D.D. Lord Bishop of London}}
* [http://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/authors/pers00031.shtml Robert Lowth] at the [http://www.eighteenthcenturypoetry.org/ Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=V0AAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR1&dq=editions:ISBN0766188558#PPR1,M1 1815 Edition of ''"Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews"'']
* {{UK National Archives ID}}
* [http://www.millar-project.ed.ac.uk/manuscripts/html_output/1.html Circulating Enlightenment] [[University of Edinburgh School of History, Classics and Archaeology|University of Edinburgh]].]
* {{NPG name}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|en}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Samuel Squire]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of St&nbsp;Davids]]|years=1766}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Charles Moss (bishop of Bath and Wells)|Charles Moss]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John Hume (bishop)|John Hume]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Oxford]]|years=1766–1777}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John Butler (bishop)|John Butler]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Richard Terrick]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of London]]|years=1777–1787}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Beilby Porteus]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Bishops of Oxford}}
{{Bishops of London}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowth, Robert}}
[[Category:1710 births]]
[[Category:1787 deaths]]
[[Category:Bishops of London]]
[[Category:Deans of the Chapel Royal]]
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[[Category:Doctors of Divinity]]
[[Category:Archdeacons of Winchester (ancient)]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Alumni of New College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Linguists of English]]
[[Category:Writers from Winchester]]
[[Category:People educated at Winchester College]]
[[Category:18th-century Church of England bishops]]
[[Category:Oxford Professors of Poetry]]
[[Category:Burials at All Saints Church, Fulham]]
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