Aulay Macaulay (died 1788) was an 18th-century English

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

-dealer, based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, who invented a system of

shorthand Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''st ...

which could be used in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and many other languages. He died on 19 March 1788, in Manchester. In the 18th century Macaulay invented a system of

, which he named "Polygraphy". His system was documented in a self-printed book titled ''Polygraphy or Shorthand Made Easy to the Meanest Capacity Being an Universal Character Fitted to All Languages Which may be learnt by this Book without the help of a Master'', published in 1747. In order to ward off possible

pirated Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...

editions of his work, Macaulay personally signed each copy, and wrote within the book: "whoever presumes to pirate my Book, will be prosecuted with the utmost Rigour". His shorthand system was the first English system to include written

vowels A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (len ...

; and he was the first to intend his system for other languages. Within his book, he used his system to write a

psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...

in 8 different languages. His book included a dedication to George,

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

(who would later become George III, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland).

References

External links

;Online copy of one of the editions of ''Polygraphy'' * ;Other links
A question concerning Aulay Macaulay, posted on "Notes and Queries" of ''The Guardian''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macaulay, Aulay MacAulay English people of Scottish descent MacAulay Businesspeople from Manchester Year of birth unknown

References

Further reading

External links