1720 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1720 in literature involved some significant events and new books.
Events
- October - The South Sea Bubble began to burst. Its collapse will affect the fortunes of many writers and occupy many works of literature.
- December 29 - The Haymarket TheatreHaymarket TheatreThe Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
in London opens.
New books
- Arthur Blackamore - The Perfidious Brethren
- Thomas BostonThomas BostonThomas Boston was a Scottish church leader.He was born at Duns. His father, John Boston, and his mother, Alison Trotter, were both Covenanters. He was educated at Edinburgh, and licensed in 1697 by the presbytery of Chirnside...
- Human Nature in its Fourfold State - Jane BreretonJane BreretonJane Brereton was an English poet notable as a correspondent to The Gentleman's Magazine.-Biography:Jane was the daughter of Mr. Thomas Hughes, of Bryn Gruffydd near Mold, Flintshire by Anne Jones, his wife, and was born in 1685. Unusually for the time, Jane was educated, at least up to the age...
- An expostulatory Epistle to Sir Richard Steele upon the Death of Mr. Addison - Thomas BrownTom Brown (satirist)Tom Brown was an English translator and writer of satire, largely forgotten today save for a four-line gibe he wrote concerning Dr John Fell....
- The Remains of Mr. Thomas Brown - William Rufus ChetwoodWilliam Rufus ChetwoodWilliam Rufus Chetwood was an English or Anglo-Irish publisher and bookseller, and a prolific writer of plays and adventure novels. He also penned a valuable General History of the Stage.-Publishing and prompting:...
- The Voyages, Dangerous Adventures, and Miraculous Escapes of Capt. Richard Falconer - Samuel CroxallSamuel CroxallSamuel Croxall was an Anglican churchman, writer and translator, particularly noted for his edition of Aesop's Fables.-Early career:...
- The Fair Circassian - Daniel DefoeDaniel DefoeDaniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
- Memoirs of a CavalierMemoirs of a CavalierMemoirs of a Cavalier is a work of historical fiction by Daniel Defoe, set during the Thirty Years' War and the English Civil Wars. The full title, which bore no date, was:-External links:...
- Serious Reflections During the Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
- Memoirs of a Cavalier
- 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...
- All for the Better (fiction) - Thomas HearneThomas HearneThomas Hearne or Hearn , English antiquary, was born at Littlefield Green in the parish of White Waltham, Berkshire.-Life:...
- A Collection of Curious Discourses - Aaron Hill - The Creation
- Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of ClarendonEdward Hyde, 1st Earl of ClarendonEdward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was an English historian and statesman, and grandfather of two English monarchs, Mary II and Queen Anne.-Early life:...
- The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in Ireland - Hildebrand Jacob - The Curious Maid
- Delarivière Manley - The Power of Love (novels)
- Alexander Pennecuik - Streams From Hellicon
- Alexander PopeAlexander PopeAlexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
- The Iliad of Homer v, vi - Richard RawlinsonRichard RawlinsonRichard Rawlinson FRS was an English clergyman and antiquarian collector of books and manuscripts, which he bequeathed to the Bodleian Library, Oxford.-Life:...
- The English Topographer - Martha Sansom - The Epistles of Clio and Strephon
- George SewellGeorge SewellGeorge Sewell was an English actor.-Early life and early career:The son of a Hoxton printer and a florist; Sewell left school at age 14 and worked briefly in the printing trade before switching to building work, specifically the repair of bomb-damaged houses...
- A New Collection of Original Poems - Richard SteeleRichard SteeleSir Richard Steele was an Irish writer and politician, remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison, of the magazine The Spectator....
- The Crisis of Property
- A Nation a Family
- Jonathan SwiftJonathan SwiftJonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
- A Proposal for the Universal Use of Irish Manufacture - William TempleWilliam TempleWilliam Temple may refer to:* William Temple * Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet , 17th century British politician, employer of Jonathan Swift...
- The Works of Sir William Temple - Ned WardNed WardNed Ward , also known as Edward Ward, was a satirical writer and publican in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century based in London, England. His most famous work is The London Spy. Published in 18 monthly instalments starting in November 1698 it was described as a "complete survey" of...
- The Delights of the Bottle - "W. P." - The Jamaica Lady
New drama
- Charles Buckingham - The Tragedy of King Henry IV of France
- John Dennis - The Invader of His Country
- Benjamin Griffin - Whig and Tory
- John Hughes - The Siege of Damascus
- John Leigh - Hob's Wedding
- Pierre de MarivauxPierre de MarivauxPierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux , commonly referred to as Marivaux, was a French novelist and dramatist....
- L'Amour et la vérité
- Arlequin poli par l'amourArlequin poli par l'amourArlequin poli par l'amour is a one-act romantic comedy by French playwright Marivaux. Its title could be translated into English as Harlequin, refined by love. Arlequin poli par l'amour was first performed 17 October 1720 by the Comédie Italienne. In this play, a fairy tries to force Arlequin to...
- Charles Molloy - The Half-Pay Officers
- John MottleyJohn MottleyJohn Mottley was an English writer, known as a dramatist, biographer, and compiler of jokes.-Life:He was the son of Colonel Thomas Mottley, a Jacobite adherent of James II in his exile, who entered the service of Louis XIV, and was killed at the battle of Turin in 1706; his mother was Dionisia,...
- The Imperial Captives
Poetry
- 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...
- Poems on Several Occasions - A New Miscellany of Original Poems (various authors)
- 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...
- The Conversation - Allan RamsayAllan Ramsay (poet)Allan Ramsay was a Scottish poet , playwright, publisher, librarian and wig-maker.-Life and career:...
- A Poem on the South-Sea
- Poems
Births
- January - Samuel FooteSamuel FooteSamuel Foote was a British dramatist, actor and theatre manager from Cornwall.-Early life:Born into a well-to-do family, Foote was baptized in Truro, Cornwall on 27 January 1720. His father, John Foote, held several public positions, including mayor of Truro, Member of Parliament representing...
, actor and playwright - January 13 - Richard Hurd (died 1808)
- July 18 - Gilbert WhiteGilbert WhiteGilbert White FRS was a pioneering English naturalist and ornithologist.-Life:White was born in his grandfather's vicarage at Selborne in Hampshire. He was educated at the Holy Ghost School and by a private tutor in Basingstoke before going to Oriel College, Oxford...
, naturalist (died 1793) - October 2- Elizabeth MontaguElizabeth MontaguElizabeth Montagu was a British social reformer, patron of the arts, salonist, literary critic, and writer who helped organize and lead the bluestocking society...
, future "bluestocking society" founder - October 17 - Jacques CazotteJacques CazotteJacques Cazotte was a French author.Born at Dijon, he was educated by the Jesuits. Cazotte then worked for the French Ministry ofthe Marine and at the age of 27 he obtained a public office at Martinique....
, romance writer (died 1792) - October 19 - John WoolmanJohn WoolmanJohn Woolman was an American itinerant Quaker preacher who traveled throughout the American colonies and in England, advocating against cruelty to animals, economic injustices and oppression, conscription, military taxation, and particularly slavery and the slave trade.- Origins and early life...
(died 1772), Quaker in colonial America
Deaths
- April 21 - Antoine HamiltonAntoine HamiltonAntoine Hamilton was an Irish classical author of near Scottish ancestry, who wrote in French....
(born 1646) - June 27 - Guillaume Amfrye de ChaulieuGuillaume Amfrye de ChaulieuGuillaume Amfrye de Chaulieu , French poet and wit, was born at Fontenay, Normandy.His father, maître des comptes of Rouen, sent him to study at the Collège de Navarre. Guillaume early showed the wit that was to distinguish him, and gained the favor of the duke of Vendôme, who procured for him the...
, poet (born 1639) - August 5 - Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea, poet (b. 1661)
- August 9 - 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...
(born 1678), writer on the history of the Middle EastMiddle EastThe Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East... - August 17 - Anne Dacier (Madame Dacier) (born c.1654)
- September 7 - Eusèbe RenaudotEusèbe RenaudotEusèbe Renaudot was a French theologian and Orientalist.-Life:Born in Paris, he was brought up and educated for a career in the church; but after being educated by the Jesuits, and joining the Oratorians in 1666, he was in poor health, left his order, and never took more than minor orders...
, theologian (b. 1646) - September 9 - Philippe de DangeauPhilippe de DangeauPhilippe de Courcillon, Marquis de Dangeau was a French officer and author.Born in Dangeau, he is most remembered for keeping a diary from 1684 till the year of his death...
, author (born 1638) - date unknown - John HughesJohn Hughes (poet)John Hughes was an English poet also noted for his editing of and commentary on the works of Edmund Spenser. Writing at the very end of 17th Century and at the beginning of the 18th, he also translated French drama and poetry, including Molière. Hughes was a favorite of the nobility and...
, poet (b. 1677)