Fowler, Henry Watson (1858-1933), was a British lexicographer (dictionary maker) and writer. He is famous for his Dictionary of Modern English Usage, which was published in 1926. This masterly guide to correct English usage was scholarly but entertaining, and an instant success. Henry planned it in collaboration with his brother, Francis, but Francis died before they had begun the actual writing. Sir Ernest Gowers revised the book in 1965, and Robert W. Burchfield updated it in 1996.
Fowler was born in Tonbridge, in the county of Kent, England. He was educated at Rugby School and Oxford University. From 1882 to 1899, he was a schoolmaster at Sedbergh School, in Cumbria, England. He and his brother, Francis, then lived in Guernsey, in the Channel Islands. The two brothers collaborated on The King’s English (1906) and the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (1911).
