The music, melody and rhythmus of language; in which are explained…the five accidents of speech…and a musical notation…to which are added, outlines of gesture and a selection of pieces in verse and prose

Chapman, James

Published by printed by Michael Anderson for Macredie, Skelly, and Co, Edinburgh, 1818

About this Item

First edition, 8vo, pp. xxiv, 250, [1]; later half calf and maroon cloth, morocco spine label lettered in gilt, spine gilt, marbled endpapers, extremities rubbed, else a very good, sound copy. The author, a teacher of elocution, wrote the present work with his students in mind. In the introduction he gives credit to Mr. Steele's Prosodia Rationalis, "a work of great merit and ingenuity," for introducing the system which Chapman here sets out to explain and simplify. Steele's system was a result of his effort to prove that the English language "has the same accidents of speech, viz. accent, emphasis, quantity, pause, and quality of sound, as the ancient Greek and Latin languages" (introduction).

Seller Inventory # 20404

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The music, melody and rhythmus of language; in which are explained…the five accidents of speech…and a musical notation…to which are added, outlines of gesture and a selection of pieces in verse and prose
• Publisher: printed by Michael Anderson for Macredie, Skelly, and Co, Edinburgh
• Publication Date: 1818
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Seller catalogs:
  • Literature
  • Language