The ReverendWalter Whiter (30 October 1758 inBirmingham, England– 23 July 1832 inHardingham)[1] was an Englishphilologist andliterary critic. He is known for his 1794 workA Specimen of a Commentary onShakspeare.Specimen, which exploredAs You Like It in terms ofJohn Locke's philosophy ofassociationism, has been described as the first work of literary criticism to use scientificpsychology.[2]
In addition to his literary criticism, Whiter published hisetymological research, first asEtymologicon Magnum in 1800, then asEtymologicon Universale in 1822 (vol. 1 and 2) and 1825 (vol. 3);[1] August Baron Merian, a correspondent ofSamuel Butler, stated that he "pit(ied)" Whiter, and described him as "(a) great etymologist—perhaps the greatest that ever lived. A genius certainly; but it seems, like most eminentartists,dissolute."[3]
Whiter's linguistic studies—in particular, his research into the language used byGypsies—led him to be cited as a role model byGeorge Borrow,[4] to the extent that Whiter appears in Borrow'sLavengro as "Reverend Whiter the philologist". The book includes a song about his character, which goes as follows:
Give me the haunch of a buck to eat
And to drink Madeira old;
And a gentle wife to rest with,
And in my arms to fold.
An Arabic book to study,
A Norfolk cob to ride;
And a house to live in shaded by trees,
Near to a river's side.
With such good things around me,
And with good health withal,
Though I should live for a hundred years
For death I would not call.
For several decades, Whiter's notes on the vocabulary ofRomani were thought to have been lost,[5] but were rediscovered and published in 1909 asWhiter's 'Lingua Cingariana'.[1]
Whiter was a friend ofRichard Porson, who had a habit of addingmarginalia to books which Whiter owned;[6] many of these annotations were subsequently collected and published independently.[1]
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