H. W. Fowler.  A Dictionary of Modern English Usage.  Oxford; Clarendon P, 1926.

        Fowler subordinates everything most American academics call "grammar" under the topic of "usage," putting punctuation under the long entry for "stops," for instance.  This is a clue to his understanding of language "correctness."  He is Johnsonian.  That which is in the most use by the best writers for the longest time is "correct."  He will not hesitate to quote Chaucer or Dryden for evidence (e.g., ending sentences with prepositions).

        Current edition information:  Amazon.com credits its recent reviser, "the late R. W. Burchfield" with authorship of this well-known style manual.  As of 2011, it is being sold new in paperback for $23.

  • Hardcover: 896 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 3 Revised edition (December 30, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0198610211
  • ISBN-13: 978-0198610212

Copies are offered by booksellers through WWW.ABEbooks.com for as little as $1.00 plus shipping.  Hardbound copies of early editions are priced as high as $336, but none seem worth even a nostalgic fling at such a price.