James Harris (grammarian)

James Harris ( born July 20, 1709 Close at Salisbury, † December 22, 1780 ) was an English scholar and politician.

James Harris, nephew of Lord Shaftesbury, studied at Oxford, 1762 Lord of the Admiralty, 1763-65 Lord of the Treasury and secretary to the Queen in 1774. He died on December 22 in 1780.

He was a lover of music and was a personal friend of George Frideric Handel.

From 1761 until his death he was a member of parliament. Of importance is particularly the philosophical and grammatical work

• Hermes, or a philosophical inquiry Concerning language and universal grammar (London, 1751, 5th edition 1806; German of Ewerbeck, Hall 1788).

After his death appeared: Philological inquiries ( Lond. 1781, 2 vols; German of Jenischhaus, Berl 1789. ). A complete edition of his works with biography worried his son, Lord Malmesbury ( Lond. 1801, 2 vols ).