A Grammar of the English Language in a series of letters Intended for the use of schools and of young persons in general ; but more especially for the use of soldiers, sailors, apprentices, and plough-boys. To which are added, six lessons, intended to prevent statesmen from using false grammar, and from writing in an awkward manner.

Bookseller Notes

First published in New York in 1818, these letters were written from Long Island. The Dedication in this edition is to Queen Caroline, dated November 25th, 1820. The 'widely selling Grammar of the English Language (1818) [a work] which Cobbett saw as a testament to the intellectual capacity of himself and of the common people as a whole, was intended especially for the use of 'soldiers, sailors, apprentices, and plough-boys'; accordingly Cobbett cheekily drew his examples of faulty grammar from the writings and speeches of such renowned political leaders as the duke of Wellington, Lord Castlereagh, and George III himself. The English Grammar continued to be used in English schools into the 1920s and 1930s' (ODNB). The examples of false grammar (a worse sin than 'fake news'?) occupy half the book, and begin with Dr. Johnson.