Elizabeth Elstob and the Printing of Anglo-Saxon In memoriam Helmut Gneuss (1927-2023)

Elizabeth Elstob, known as "the Saxon nymph", is much celebrated for her publications on Old English, AE lfric's homily on St Gregory (1709), for example. Her Rudiments of Grammar for the English-Saxon Tongue (1715) was the first Anglo-Saxon grammar in English. It was also notable for introducing a new printing fount for Anglo-Saxon, one that reproduced almost every letter in an authentic imitation of that found in Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, the first fount to attempt this degree of authenticity. This paper explores Elizabeth Elstob's publishing career through the medium of the means (and difficulties) of printing Anglo-Saxon. It also draws attention to another manuscript in Elizabeth Elstob's hand that is not generally known.