Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jul 1990

The First Technical Writer in English: A Challenge to the Hegemony of Chaucer

John Hagge Iowa State University

Abstract

The claim that Geoffrey Chaucer was “the first technical writer in English,” which appears several times in the recent literature on the history of technical writing in early English, misleads because numerous Middle English technical prose texts either precede Chaucer's Treatise on the Astrolabe or are contemporaneous with it. In fact, an important tradition of technical writing exists in both Old and Middle English and extends through the English Renaissance. Historians of technical writing will find it more profitable to investigate the tradition of English practical prose than to find further firsts for their field.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
1990-07-01
DOI
10.2190/vwcw-xkmv-949f-vlf7
Open Access
Closed
Topics
technical communication

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (9)

  1. Rauch (2012)
    The Accreditation of Hildegard von Bingen as Medieval Female Technical Writer
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Tebeaux (2010)
    English Agriculture and Estate Management Instructions, 1200–1700: From Orality…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  3. Moore (2006)
    Legitimizing Technical Communication in English Departments: Carolyn Miller's “…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. MOORE (1996)
    Instrumental Discourse is as Humanistic as Rhetoric
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  5. HAGGE (1995)
    Early Engineering Writing Textbooks and the Anthropological Complexity of Disci…
    Written Communication
Show all 9 →
  1. Connor (1994)
    Self-Help Medical Literature in 19th-Century Canada and the Rhetorical Conventi…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. RIVERS (1994)
    Studies in the History of Business and Technical Writing
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  3. Connor (1993)
    Medical Text and Historical Context: Research Issues and Methods in History and…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Tebeaux et al. (1992)
    Expanding and redirecting historical research in technical writing: In search o…
    Technical Communication Quarterly

Cites in this index (4)

  1. HAGGE et al. (1989)
    Linguistic Politeness in Professional Prose
    Written Communication
  2. Brockmann (1988)
    Does Clio Have a Place in Technical Writing? Considering Patents in a History o…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Brockmann (1983)
    Bibliography of Articles on the History of Technical Writing
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  4. Lipson (1982)
    Descriptions and Instructions in Medieval Times: Lessons to be Learnt from Geof…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Also cites 15 works outside this index ↓
  1. Lawler T. (1984)
    Middle English Prose: A Critical Guide to Major Authors and Genres
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  2. 10.1093/jhmas/XV.4.399
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  3. Braswell L. (1984)
    Middle English Prose: A Critical Guide to Major Authors and Genres
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CrossRef global citation count: 11 View in citation network →

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