1708 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1708 in literature involved some significant events.
Events
- The Battle of OudenardeBattle of OudenardeThe Battle of Oudenaarde was a key battle in the War of the Spanish Succession fought on 11 July 1708 between the forces of Great Britain, the Dutch Republic and the Holy Roman Empire on the one side and the French on the other...
- Joseph TrappJoseph TrappJoseph Trapp was an English clergyman, academic, poet and pamphleteer. His production as a younger man of occasional verse and dramas led to his appointment as the first Oxford Professor of Poetry in 1708. Later his High Church opinions established him in preferment and position...
becomes Oxford Professor of PoetryOxford Professor of PoetryThe chair of Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford is an unusual academic appointment, now held for a term of five years, and chosen through an election open to all members of Convocation, namely, all graduates and current academics of the university; in 2010, on-line voting was allowed....
. - Edward LhuydEdward LhuydEdward Lhuyd was a Welsh naturalist, botanist, linguist, geographer and antiquary. He is also known by the Latinized form of his name, Eduardus Luidius....
becomes a Fellow of the Royal Society.
New books
- Joseph AddisonJoseph AddisonJoseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was a man of letters, eldest son of Lancelot Addison...
- The Present State of the War (pro-Marlborough tract) - Edmund Arwaker - Truth in Fiction (fables)
- Francis AtterburyFrancis AtterburyFrancis Atterbury was an English man of letters, politician and bishop.-Early life:He was born at Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, where his father was rector. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he became a tutor...
- Fourteen Sermons Preach'd on Several Occasions - Joseph BinghamJoseph BinghamJoseph Bingham , English scholar and divine, was born at Wakefield in Yorkshire.He was educated at University College, Oxford, of which he was made fellow in 1689 and tutor in 1691...
- Origines Ecclesiasticae, or Antiquities of the Christian Church, vol. 1 - Richard BlackmoreRichard BlackmoreSir Richard Blackmore , English poet and physician, is remembered primarily as the object of satire and as an example of a dull poet. He was, however, a respected physician and religious writer....
- The Kit-Cats - Jeremy CollierJeremy CollierJeremy Collier was an English theatre critic, non-juror bishop and theologian.-Life:Born in Stow cum Quy, Cambridgeshire, Collier was educated at Caius College, University of Cambridge, receiving the BA and MA . A supporter of James II, he refused to take the oath of allegiance to William and...
- An Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain, Chiefly of England (vol. 1) - Ebenezer CookeEbenezer CookeEbenezer Cooke , a London-born poet, wrote what some scholars consider the first American satire: “The Sotweed Factor, or A Voyage to Maryland, A Satyr”...
- The Sot-Weed Factor - Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury - A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm (contra radical Protestantism)
- Edmund CurllEdmund CurllEdmund Curll was an English bookseller and publisher. His name has become synonymous, through the attacks on him by Alexander Pope, with unscrupulous publication and publicity. Curll rose from poverty to wealth through his publishing, and he did this by approaching book printing in a mercenary...
- The Charitable Surgeon - John DownesJohn Downes (17th-century prompter)John Downes worked as a prompter at the Duke's Company, and later the United Company, for most of the Restoration period 1660—1700...
- Roscius Anglicanus (a historical review of the stage) - Elijah FentonElijah Fenton-Life:Born in Shelton , and educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, for a time he acted as secretary to the Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery in Flanders, and was then Master of Sevenoaks Grammar School.In 1707, Fenton published a book of poems...
- Oxford and Cambridge Miscellany Poems - Bishop FisherJohn FisherSaint John Fisher was an English Roman Catholic scholastic, bishop, cardinal and martyr. He shares his feast day with Saint Thomas More on 22 June in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints and 6 July on the Church of England calendar of saints...
's Funeral Sermon for Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby (with a preface by Thomas BakerThomas Baker (antiquarian)Thomas Baker , English antiquarian, was the grandson of Colonel Baker of Crook, Durham, who won fame in the English Civil War by his defence of Newcastle upon Tyne against the Scots. Thomas was educated at the free school at Durham, and went on to St John's College, Cambridge, where he later...
) - John GayJohn GayJohn Gay was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for The Beggar's Opera , set to music by Johann Christoph Pepusch...
- Wine - Charles GildonCharles GildonCharles Gildon , was an English hack writer who was, by turns, a translator, biographer, essayist, playwright, poet, author of fictional letters, fabulist, short story author, and critic. He provided the source for many lives of Restoration figures, although he appears to have propagated or...
- Libertas Triumphans (re Battle of Oudenarde)- - The New Metamorphosis (fiction)
- John HarrisJohn Harris (writer)John Harris was an English writer, scientist, and Anglican priest. He is best known as the editor of the Lexicon Technicum: Or, A Universal English Dictionary of Arts and Sciences , the earliest of English encyclopaedias, and as the compiler of the Collection of Voyages and Travels which was...
- Lexicon Technicum: Or, A Universal English Dictionary of Arts and SciencesLexicon technicumLexicon Technicum: Or, An Universal English Dictionary of Arts and Sciences: Explaining not only the Terms of Art, but the Arts Themselves was in many respects the first alphabetical encyclopedia written in English...
, vol. 1 (2nd edition) - Aaron Hill - The Celebrated Speeches of Ajax and Ulysses, for the Armour of Achilles (from OvidOvidPublius Ovidius Naso , known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who is best known as the author of the three major collections of erotic poetry: Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria...
) - Benjamin HoadlyBenjamin HoadlyBenjamin Hoadly was an English clergyman, who was successively Bishop of Bangor, Hereford, Salisbury, and Winchester. He is best known as the initiator of the Bangorian Controversy.-Life:...
- The Unhappiness of the Present Establishment, and the Unhappiness of Absolute Monarchy - William KingWilliam King (poet)-Life:Born in London, the son of Ezekiel King, he was related to the family of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon. From Westminster School, where he was a scholar under Richard Busby, at the age of eighteen he was elected to Christ Church, Oxford in 1681. There he is said to have dedicated himself...
- The Art of Cookery (poem) - Anne de La Roche-Guilhem - La Foire de Beaucaire
- John LockeJohn LockeJohn Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
- Some Familiar Letters (posth.) - Simon OckleySimon OckleySimon Ockley was a British Orientalist.-Biography:Ockley was born at Exeter. He was educated at Queens' College, Cambridge, and graduated B.A. in 1697, MA. in 1701, and B.D. in 1710. He became fellow of Jesus College and vicar of Swavesey, and in 1711 was chosen Adams Professor of Arabic in the...
- The Conquest of Syria, Persia, and Aegypt by the Saracens (vol. 1 of History of the SaracensHistory of the SaracensThe History of the Saracen Empires is a book written by Simon Ockley of Cambridge University and first published in the early 18th century. The book has been reprinted many times including at London in 1894...
) - Matthew PriorMatthew PriorMatthew Prior was an English poet and diplomat.Prior was the son of a Nonconformist joiner at Wimborne Minster, East Dorset. His father moved to London, and sent him to Westminster School, under Dr. Busby. On his father's death, he left school, and was cared for by his uncle, a vintner in Channel...
- Poems on Several Occasions (see 17071707 in literatureThe year 1707 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* Thanks to the efforts of Daniel Defoe, John Arbuthnot, and Anne's ministry, the Act of Union between England and Scotland takes place....
for the vexatious publication) - Jonathan SwiftJonathan SwiftJonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
- Predictions for the Year 1708- - The Accomplishment of the First of Mr. Bickerstaff's Predictions (together, part of the "Bickerstaff Papers")
- - An Argument against Abolishing ChristianityAn Argument Against Abolishing ChristianityAn Argument to Prove that the Abolishing of Christianity in England May, as Things Now Stand Today, be Attended with Some Inconveniences, and Perhaps not Produce Those Many Good Effects Proposed Thereby, commonly referred to as An Argument Against Abolishing Christianity, is an essay by Jonathan...
New drama
- Thomas BakerThomas Baker (attorney)Thomas Baker was a British attorney writer. He was active as a playwright in London in the first decade of the eighteenth century, penning The Fine Lady's Airs and other plays, then moved to Bedfordshire and lived there as a schoolmaster and vicar until his death in 1749...
- The Fine Lady's Airs - Peter Anthony MotteuxPeter Anthony MotteuxPeter Anthony Motteux , born Pierre Antoine Motteux, was an English author, playwright, and translator...
- Love's Triumph (opera) - Nicholas Rowe - The Royal Convert
Births
- April 23 - Friedrich von HagedornFriedrich von HagedornFriedrich von Hagedorn , German poet, was born at Hamburg, where his father, a man of scientific and literary taste, was Danish minister....
, German poet (died 1754) - August 29 - Olof von DalinOlof von DalinOlof von Dalin was a Swedish nobleman, poet, historian and courtier. He was an influential literary figure of the Swedish Enlightenment.-Background:...
, poet - October 16 - Albrecht von HallerAlbrecht von HallerAlbrecht von Haller was a Swiss anatomist, physiologist, naturalist and poet.-Early life:He was born of an old Swiss family at Bern. Prevented by long-continued ill-health from taking part in boyish sports, he had the more opportunity for the development of his precocious mind...
, biologist and poet (died 1777) - date unknown
- Richard DawesRichard Dawes-Life:He was born in or near Market Bosworth, England, and was educated at the town grammar school under Anthony Blackwall, and at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, of which he was elected fellow in 1731. His eccentricities and frank speaking made him unpopular. His health broke down as a result of his...
, English classical scholar (died 1766) - Thomas SewardThomas SewardThomas Seward was an English Anglican clergyman, author and editor who was part of the Lichfield intellectual circle of Samuel Johnson, Erasmus Darwin and his own daughter Anna Seward.-Bibliography:...
, English poet - Samuel BoyseSamuel BoyseSamuel Boyse was an Irish poet and writer who worked for Sir Robert Walpole and whose religious verses in particular were prized and reprinted in his time.-Life:...
- Laetitia PilkingtonLaetitia PilkingtonLaetitia Pilkington was a celebrated Anglo-Irish poet and important source of information on the early 18th century. Her Memoirs are the source of much of what is known of the personalities and habits of Jonathan Swift and others.Laetitia was born of two distinguished families...
(poss.)
- Richard Dawes
Deaths
- October 11 - Ehrenfried Walther von TschirnhausEhrenfried Walther von TschirnhausEhrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus was a German mathematician, physicist, physician, and philosopher...
, philosopher (born 1651) - October 22 - Hermann WitsiusHermann WitsiusHermann Witsius was a Dutch theologian.- Life :...
, theologian (born 1636) - date unknown
- Johannes KelpiusJohannes KelpiusJohannes Kelpius , a German Pietist, mystic, musician, and writer, interested in the occult, botany, and astronomy, came to believe with his followers in the "Society of the Woman in the Wilderness" that the end of the world would occur in 1694...
, polymath (born 1673) - Nicolae MilescuNicolae MilescuNicolae Milescu was a Moldavian writer, traveler, geographer, and diplomat. Milescu spoke 9 languages: Romanian, Latin, Greek, Modern Greek, French, German, Turkish, Swedish and Russian...
, travel writer (born 1636) - William Walsh, poet and critic (born 1663)
- Johannes Kelpius