£150
12mo, pp. xxiv, 115, [1]. Contemporary half calf, marbled boards, spine divided by gilt rules, red morocco label, edges sprinkled red and blue. Scattered toning and foxing, one opening damp-marked. Somewhat rubbed, a little wear to edges.
The second edition of this guide to proper English, first issued anonymously in 1770. It is notably the source of the linguistic shibboleth about the usage of 'fewer' for countable things and 'less' for things more nebulous, e.g. 'fewer books' but 'less fiction'. This idea is first attested in Baker's remark no. 47, on the word 'Less', although it is here clearly an opinion rather that a hard and fast rule: 'This Word is most commonly used in speaking of a Number; where I should think Fewer would do better. No fewer than a Hundred appears to me not only more elegant than No less than a Hundred, but more strictly proper' (p. 28).
