WILLIAM STRUNK JR was Professor of English at Cornell University. In 1918, he self-published a guide for his students on English usage and writing called The Elements Of Style. The slim book consisted primarily of eight “elementary rules of usage” and ten “elementary principles of composition” accompanied by a “few matters of form.’ It urged vigorous and concise writing.
Strunk’s students referred to The Elements Of Style as “The Little Book,” as it was less than fifty pages long. Its stated purpose was “to lighten the task of instructor and student by concentrating attention on a few essentials, the rules of usage, and principles of composition most commonly violated.”
Strunk’s style and his instructions were as terse as the writing he encouraged. Perhaps his most famous dictate is this one on “vigorous writing”:
“Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all sentences short, or avoid all detail and treat subjects only in outline, but that every word tell.”
This is a copy of the 1919 edition of The Elements Of Style with its homemade look. Supposedly, there is an earlier printing of this book but I couldn’t find it on the Internet. Haven’t a clue as to its value as a collectable, but as it’s now a part of the Public Domain it’s surprising that no one has printed a facsimile edition. 1
A few words on Mr. Strunk
There’s not a lot of biographical information on the man to be found on the Internet. He started teaching mathematics in 1890 and then spent forty-six years teaching English.
In 1937, he retired.
In 1945, he was diagnosed with “senile psychosis.”
In 1946, he died at the age of 77.
His Cornell obituary remembered him for “his kindness, his helpfulness as a teacher and colleague, his boyish lack of envy and guile.”
According to the Fiftieth Anniversary Edition of The Elements Of Style (2009), the three editions published under White’s editorship have sold more than 10,000,000 copies! First Editions (stated) with dust jackets seem to sell in the $150–300 range for clean copies.
Concise writing and clarity
This article is a brief introduction to Strunk and his posthumous collaborator E.B. White, and especially the book that the two of them will be (hopefully) remembered for as long as the English language remains alive.
Here is an example of Strunk’s instructions to would-be authors (adapted from the original for clarity):
“Clarity is not the prize in writing, nor is it always the principal mark of a good style. There are occasions when obscurity serves a literary yearning, if not a literary purpose, and there are writers whose mien is more overcast than clear.
But since writing is communication, clarity can only be a virtue. And although there is no substitute for merit in writing, clarity comes closest to being one.
Even to a writer who is being intentionally obscure or wild of tongue we can say, ‘Be obscure clearly! Be wild of tongue in a way we can understand!’
Even to writers of market letters, telling us (but not telling us) which securities are promising, we can say, ‘Be cagey plainly! Be elliptical in a straightforward fashion!’
Clarity, clarity, clarity.
Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences.
When you become hopelessly mired in a sentence, it is best to start fresh; do not try to fight your way through against the terrible odds of syntax. Usually what is wrong is that the construction has become too involved at some point; the sentence needs to be broken apart and replaced by two or more shorter sentences.
Muddiness is not merely a disturber of prose, it is also a destroyer of life, of hope: death on the highway caused by a misplaced phrase in a well-intentioned letter, anguish of a traveler expecting to be met at a railroad station and not being met because of a slipshod telegram.
Think of the tragedies that are rooted in ambiguity, and be clear! When you say something, make sure you have said it. The chances of your having said it are only fair.”
A few words on Mr. White
In 1959, The Elements Of Style was revised and enlarged by his former student, E.B. White. By this time, White was a well-established author of poetry, short stories, novels, and non-fiction. He will be remembered and cherished as the author of three children’s books:
The revised, posthumous “collaboration” of The Elements Of Style is among the most influential books ever written on the subject. It is usually referred to simply as “the Strunk and White book,” or just “the Strunk and White.” 2
This is one of the few photos that exist of William Strunk Jr. He looks rather bland, hardly the type of man to have such a forceful impact on so many of his students.
Strunk and White as gurus
I discovered The Elements Of Style in high school, although I don’t recall the circumstances under which I became aware of it. (A teacher? librarian? reference in another book?). I have fallen back on it so many times that I should have it memorized. (I don’t.) 3
So, should you be reading this and have any interest in using the amazing English language correctly and effectively, then find a copy of The Elements Of Style forthwith and read William Strunk instructions on concise, vigorous writing! 4
FEATURED IMAGE: The image at the top of this page was lifted from Jerry Morris’s My Sentimental Library blog, published in 2016. The opening sentence from this blog is, “I think I have enough copies of most of the different editions of The Elements of Style on my library shelf now.” As a collector, Jerry noted, “Fifteen years ago, I was able to buy pre-1959 editions for as low as $30 and no more than $75. Currently, some of the pre-1959 editions—the ones with the blue cloth spines on the right in the photo above—are listed from $950 to over $2000. The 1959 edition itself, the first edition with William Strunk and E. B. White together, lists for anywhere from $14 to $150.”
1 The original edition of The Elements Of Style that Strunk wrote in 1918 was all of forty-three pages long. When Harcourt, Brace & Howe published it for the book market in 19520, it was expanded to fifty-two pages. It eventually found itself bloated out to eighty-five pages under White’s hand.
2 Hence the title that I have given a category on Neal Umphred Dot Com is Strunkandwhiten It. The articles within this category are mostly concerned with the continued misuse of the language in print.
3 In a way, William Strunk Jr and E.B. White have been two of my gurus in this particular life. (No one has just one guru in any life.)
4 The Elements Of Style is a staple of used book stores. I usually pay no more than a dollar for a paperback edition.