'I have undertaken to write a grammar of English', says John Wallis in the preface to his'Grammar of the English language, 'because there is clearly a great demand for it from foreigners, who want to be able to understand the various important works which are written in our tongue.' And he goes on: 'all kinds of literature are widely available in English editions and, without boasting, it can be said that there vis scarcely any worthwhile body of knowledge which has not been recorded today, adequately at least, in the English language'.