Excerpt from Old English Scholarship in England From 1566-1800

In the study of English literature there comes to each of us a realization that one period of our language is wholly obsolete, and if we would read the literature of that period, we must apply ourselves with diligence to the perusal of grammars, dictionaries, and careqy prepared texts. A fact that we do not so often recog nize is that there was no English scholarship, in the strict sense, when Old English was a spoken language. How and when did this scholarship begin? How did it develop, and what obstacles did it meet? It is the object of this thesis to discuss the beginnings of Old English scholarship, and to trace its progress until it took a recognized place in the scholarly world. The definite limits of this consideration are the publication of the first Old English book, 1566, and the establish ment of the first professorship of the language in an English university, 1795. The material is chrono logically presented, both in the essay and in the ap pendixes. Each appendix is so arranged as to illus trate a particular phase of Old English scholarship. There are some things which I do not attempt to dis cuss; one is the subject of runes. That subject belongs to a linguistic study, not to an historical essay. Again, I do not attempt to estimate the scholarship of that time as compared With ours of to-day. Our debt to these early scholars is not lessened by a frank recogni tion of the fact that their work is practically worthless to the modern student. They are the pioneers, who blazed a trail which has now become a broad highway.

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