Whittington, Robert

De Heteroclitis Nominibus

      London; Peter Treveris, c.1531. 4to. ll. [20]. Black and roman letter; title within elaborate pictorial woodcut border, (Not in McKerrow) contemporary (? )monogram in blank, 16th C inscription to last leaf "Be it known unto all them/ Be it known that I Thomas/ Be it known unto all men that" with Latin above now mostly excised, another elsewhere. Slight age yellowing, a good, clean, well-margined copy in 19th C half calf over marbled boards. Rare edition of Whittington's guide to noun cases for the use of students, PRINTED BY THE FIRST PRINTER IN SOUTHWARK. Whittington published a number of grammars from 1510 onwards. His regular printer was Wynkyn de Worde, but during the years 1529-1531 he experimented with Peter Treveris, who was found to be so unsatisfactory that on returning to de Worde Whittington saw fit to include some disparaging verses about Treveris in his new grammars. The text presents all grammar concerning nouns on a systematic case by case basis, with very brief statements of each grammatical procedure in a large Roman font, followed by examples in very small Black letter. Written entirely in Latin, the book represents a daunting project for the schoolboy reader. Whittington (c.1480-C.1553) was an English grammarian and pupil of John Stanbridge. Although turning to translation later in his career, he was made famous by his publication of elementary Latin school books concentrating on a single grammatical aspect, which were sold widely and cheaply and frequently republished, nevertheless, their survival rate, especially in good condition, has been very low. A staunch traditionalist, or 'Trojan', favouring the rote learning of grammar and syntax prior to any attempts at reading, Whittington famously came to blows with William Lily, headmaster of St Paul's, who favoured a 'Greek' approach to the Classics, promoting the learning of grammar through reading texts, resulting in the almost simultaneous publication of two very disparate 'Vulgariae'. Unfortunately for Whittington, Lily's...