Cursory Observations on the Poems Attributed to Thomas Rowley (1782)

"Cursory Observations on the Poems Attributed to Thomas Rowley" by Edmond Malone is a detailed examination that questions whether certain poems were really written by a 15th-century priest named Thomas Rowley, or if they were actually written by the poet Thomas Chatterton. Malone uses strong reasoning and investigation to disprove the idea that the poems are genuine and disagrees with those who defend them. The book begins by explaining the controversy around the Rowley poems and how important the debate over their truthfulness had become in the late 1700s and then Malone explains that anyone judging the poems must deeply understand English poetry. Malone argues that the poems' flowing writing style and use of modern language prove that they could not have been written so long ago.