Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage was first published in 1926.
The original title was A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, and its author was Henry Watson Fowler. Published by Oxford University Press, the book offered commentary on word choice, grammar, punctuation, idiom, and disputed usage. Its entries were not merely alphabetical definitions; they often combined linguistic observation with Fowler’s distinctive judgments and humor.
Fowler developed the work with the help of his brother, Francis George Fowler. The brothers had previously collaborated on The King’s English, published in 1906. Francis died in 1918, and Henry dedicated the first edition of the dictionary to him. The 1926 volume became one of the most influential English usage guides of the twentieth century.
Later editions changed both editors and scope. Ernest Gowers edited the second edition in 1965, Robert Burchfield substantially revised the third in 1996, and Jeremy Butterfield edited the fourth edition in 2015. Those later dates can create confusion, but the question asks for the first publication of Fowler’s dictionary, which was 1926.