Walton Burgess

Walton Burgess is known for Five Hundred Mistakes of Daily Occurrence in Speaking, Pronouncing, and Writing the English Language, Corrected, a language guide first published in 1856.

Reliable catalog and library records available online confirm that this is the work most closely associated with Burgess, and modern reprints sometimes appear under the alternate title Never Too Late to Learn. The book focuses on common errors in everyday English, which suggests a practical, instructional approach rather than a literary or autobiographical one.

Very little biographical information about Burgess appears to be readily confirmed in major public sources, so the person behind the book remains somewhat obscure. What does come through clearly is the author’s aim: to help ordinary readers speak and write with more confidence and accuracy.