1. Robert Lowth was educated at Winchester College and became a scholar of New College, Oxford in 1729.
14 Facts About Robert Lowth
1. 2.
Robert Lowth obtained his BA in 1733 and his Master of Arts degree in 1737.
3.
In 1735, while still at Oxford, Robert Lowth took orders in the Anglican Church and was appointed vicar of Ovington, Hampshire, a position he retained until 1741, when he was appointed Oxford Professor of Poetry.
4.
Bishop Robert Lowth made a translation of the Book of Isaiah, first published in 1778.
5.
Shortly afterwards, in 1753, Robert Lowth was appointed rector of East Woodhay.
6.
Robert Lowth was appointed a fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Gottingen in 1765.
7.
Robert Lowth remained Bishop of Oxford until 1777 when he was appointed Bishop of London as well as dean of the chapel royal and privy councillor.
8.
Robert Lowth was good friends with the Scottish Enlightenment figure David Hume, as noted by the prominent Scottish bookseller Andrew Millar.
9.
Robert Lowth wrote a Latin epitaph, Cara, Vale on the death of his daughter Maria.
10.
Robert Lowth died in 1787, and was buried in the churchyard of All Saints Church, Fulham.
11.
Robert 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.
12.
Robert Lowth is remembered for his publication in 1762 of A Short Introduction to English Grammar.
13.
Robert Lowth's method included criticising "false syntax"; his examples of false syntax were culled from Shakespeare, the King James Bible, John Donne, John Milton, Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope, and other famous writers.
14.
Robert 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.