Hermes: Or, a Philosophical Inquiry Concerning Universal Grammar

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by James Harris

Harris' Hermes
HarrisHermes1771Title.jpg

Title page from Hermes: Or, a Philosophical Inquiry Concerning Universal Grammar, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.

Author James Harris
Editor
Translator {{{trans}}}
Published London: Printed for John Nourse and Paul Vaillant
Date 1771
Edition Third edition, revised and corrected
Language English, Latin
Volumes {{{set}}} volume set
Pages xix, 442, [27] pages, [1]
Desc. 8vo (22 cm.)
Location Shelf H-1
  [[Shelf {{{shelf2}}}]]

James Harris (1709 – 1780) was an English politician and grammarian.

Frontispiece.

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Epes Sargent's biography, The Life and Public Services of Henry Clay, mentions three books which were loaned or recommended to a young Henry Clay, when he worked as a copyist for Wythe in Virginia's High Court of Chancery, between 1793 and 1796:

The chancellor being unable to write well, in consequence of the gout or rheumatism in his right thumb, bethought himself of employing his young friend as an amanuensis. This was a fortunate circumstance for the fatherless boy. His attention was thus called to the structure of sentences, as he wrote them down from the dictation of his employer; and a taste for the study of grammar was created which was noticed and encouraged by the chancellor, upon whose recommendation he read Harris's Hermes, Tooke's Diversions of Purley, Bishop Lowth's Grammar, and other similar works.[1]

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Images of the library's copy of this book are available on Flickr. View the record for this book in William & Mary's online catalog.

See also

References

  1. Epes Sargent, The Life and Public Services of Henry Clay, Down to 1848, edited by Horace Greeley (Auburn, NY: Derby & Miller, 1852), 14.

External links