1782 in literature
Encyclopedia
Events
- Charles DibdinCharles DibdinCharles Dibdin was a British musician, dramatist, novelist, actor and songwriter. The son of a parish clerk, he was born in Southampton on or before 4 March 1745, and was the youngest of a family of 18....
becomes joint manager of the Royal Circus, afterwards known as the Surrey TheatreSurrey TheatreThe Surrey Theatre began life in 1782 as the Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy, one of the many circuses that provided contemporary London entertainment of both horsemanship and drama...
. - William BlakeWilliam BlakeWilliam Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
first meets his patron, John FlaxmanJohn FlaxmanJohn Flaxman was an English sculptor and draughtsman.-Early life:He was born in York. His father was also named John, after an ancestor who, according to family tradition, had fought for Parliament at the Battle of Naseby, and afterwards settled as a carrier or farmer in Buckinghamshire...
. - The Siku QuanshuSiku QuanshuThe Siku Quanshu, variously translated as the Imperial Collection of Four, Emperor's Four Treasuries, Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature, or Complete Library of the Four Treasuries, is the largest collection of books in Chinese history and probably the most ambitious editorial...
is completed, the largest literary compilation in ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
's history. The books are bound in 36,381 volumes with more than 79,000 chapters comprising about 2.3 million pages and approximately 800 million Chinese characterChinese characterChinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...
s.
New books
- Elizabeth Blower - George Bateman
- Fanny BurneyFanny BurneyFrances Burney , also known as Fanny Burney and, after her marriage, as Madame d’Arblay, was an English novelist, diarist and playwright. She was born in Lynn Regis, now King’s Lynn, England, on 13 June 1752, to musical historian Dr Charles Burney and Mrs Esther Sleepe Burney...
- CeciliaCecilia (novel)Cecilia, subtitled Memoirs of an Heiress, is a novel by Frances Burney, set in 1779 and published in 1782.-Background:Cecilia, or Memoirs of an Heiress was published in July 1782... - J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur - Letters from an American FarmerLetters from an American FarmerLetters From An American Farmer And Sketches Of Eighteenth-Century America was published by Jean de Crèvecœur in 1782 but it was written before the American Revolution. Crèvecœur provided one of the first examples of American literature to Europeans....
- Pierre Choderlos de LaclosPierre Choderlos de LaclosPierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos was a French novelist, official and army general, best known for writing the epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses ....
- Les liaisons dangereusesLes Liaisons dangereusesLes Liaisons dangereuses is a French epistolary novel by Choderlos de Laclos, first published in four volumes by Durand Neveu from March 23, 1782.... - Betje WolffBetje WolffElizabeth Wolff-Bekker was a Dutch writer.On 18 November 1759 she married the 52-year-old clergyman Adriaan Wolff. In 1763 she published her first collection Bespiegelingen over het genoegen...
- Historie van mejuffrouw Sara Burgerhart
New drama
- Vittorio AlfieriVittorio AlfieriCount Vittorio Alfieri was an Italian dramatist, considered the "founder of Italian tragedy."-Early life:Alfieri was born at Asti in Piedmont....
- SaulSaul (Alfieri)Saul is a theatrical tragedy in five acts, written by Vittorio Alfieri in 1782, in which the eponymous protagonist simultaneously embodies the tragic heroism of both tyrant and victim. This play marks the high point of Italian tragedy and pre-romantic poetry.... - Hannah CowleyHannah CowleyHannah Cowley was an English dramatist and poet. Although Cowley’s plays and poetry did not enjoy wide popularity after the nineteenth century, critic Melinda Finberg rates Cowley as “one of the foremost playwrights of the late eighteenth century” whose “skill in writing fluid, sparkling dialogue...
- The Belle's Stratagem - Richard CumberlandRichard Cumberland (dramatist)Richard Cumberland was a British dramatist and civil servant. In 1771 his hit play The West Indian was first staged. During the American War of Independence he acted as a secret negotiator with Spain in an effort to secure a peace agreement between the two nations. He also edited a short-lived...
- The WalloonsThe WalloonsThe Walloons is a comedy play by the British writer Richard Cumberland. It was first staged at the Covent Garden Theatre in April 1782. The character of Father O'Sullivan was widely believed to be based on Father Thomas Hussey an Irish-born Priest with whom Cumberland conducted secret talks in an... - Denis FonvizinDenis FonvizinDenis Ivanovich Fonvizin was a playwright of the Russian Enlightenment, whose plays are still staged today. His main works are two satirical comedies which mock contemporary Russian gentry.-Life:...
- The Minor - Jean-Pierre Claris de FlorianJean-Pierre Claris de FlorianJean-Pierre Claris de Florian was a French poet and romance writer.-Life:...
- Le Bon MénageLe Bon MénageLe Bon Ménage is a one act comedy by Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian. It was first performed by the Comédie Italienne in 1782. Le Bon ménage is the second of a trilogy of plays called "The Arlequinades" that tell the story of Arlequin, his wife Argentine, and later, their children...
New poetry
- William CowperWilliam CowperWilliam Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry...
- The Diverting History of John GilpinThe Diverting History of John GilpinThe Diverting History of John Gilpin is a comic ballad by William Cowper, written in 1782. The ballad concerns a draper called John Gilpin who rides a runaway horse...
- Verses Supposed to be Written by Alexander Selkirk
- Poems
- The Diverting History of John Gilpin
- John FreethJohn FreethJohn Freeth , also known as Poet Freeth and who published his work under the pseudonym John Free, was an English innkeeper, poet and songwriter. As the owner of Freeth's Coffee House between 1768 and his death in 1808, he was major figure in the political and cultural life of Birmingham during the...
- Modern Songs - William HayleyWilliam HayleyWilliam Hayley was an English writer, best known as the friend and biographer of William Cowper.-Biography:...
- An Essay on Epic Poetry in Five Epistles to Mason - William MasonWilliam Mason (poet)William Mason was an English poet, editor and gardener.He was born in Hull and educated at Hull Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge. He was ordained in 1754 and held a number of posts in the church....
- An Archaeological Epistle to Jeremiah Milles....
- King Stephen's Watch
- Hannah MoreHannah MoreHannah More was an English religious writer, and philanthropist. She can be said to have made three reputations in the course of her long life: as a poet and playwright in the circle of Johnson, Reynolds and Garrick, as a writer on moral and religious subjects, and as a practical...
- Sacred Dramas for Young Persons - Edward RushtonEdward RushtonEdward Rushton was a British poet and writer.-Early life:Edward Rushton was born in Liverpool on November 13, 1756. He was enrolled at the Liverpool Free School from the age of 6 until the age of 9. He left school and by the age of 11 and became an apprentice with Messrs...
- The Dismember'd Empire (attrib.) - John ScottJohn Scott of AmwellJohn Scott , known as Scott of Amwell, was a poet and writer on the alleviation of poverty.He was a wealthy Quaker who lived at Amwell near Ware in Hertfordshire, England...
- Poetical Works - Helen Maria WilliamsHelen Maria WilliamsHelen Maria Williams was a British novelist, poet, and translator of French-language works. A religious dissenter, she was a supporter of abolitionism and of the ideals of the French Revolution; she was imprisoned in Paris during the Reign of Terror, but nonetheless spent much of the rest of her...
- Edwin and Eltruda - John WolcotJohn WolcotJohn Wolcot , satirist, born in Dodbrooke, near Kingsbridge in Devon, was educated by an uncle, and studied medicine. In 1767 he went as physician to Sir William Trelawny, Governor of Jamaica, and whom he induced to present him to a Church in the island then vacant, and was ordained in 1769...
as "Peter Pindar" - Lyric Odes, to the Royal Academicians
Non-fiction
- Thomas DayThomas DayThomas Day was a British author and abolitionist. He was well-known for the children's book The History of Sandford and Merton which emphasized Rousseauvian educational ideals.-Life and works:...
- Reflections upon the Present State of England, and the Independence of America - William GilpinWilliam Gilpin (clergyman)The Reverend William Gilpin was an English artist, clergyman, schoolmaster, and author, best known as one of the originators of the idea of the picturesque.-Early life:...
- Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales - Edmund Malone - Cursory Observations on the Poems Attributed to Thomas Rowley (debunking ChattertonThomas ChattertonThomas Chatterton was an English poet and forger of pseudo-medieval poetry. He died of arsenic poisoning, either from a suicide attempt or self-medication for a venereal disease.-Childhood:...
's hoax) - John NicholsJohn Nichols (printer)John Nichols was an English printer, author and antiquary.-Early life and apprenticeship:He was born in Islington, London to Edward Nichols and Anne Wilmot. On 22 June 1766 he married Anne Cradock daughter of William Cradock...
- Biographical and Literary Anecdotes of William Bowyer - Thomas PennantThomas PennantThomas Pennant was a Welsh naturalist and antiquary.The Pennants were a Welsh gentry family from the parish of Whitford, Flintshire, who had built up a modest estate at Bychton by the seventeenth century...
- The Journey from Chester to London - Isaac ReedIsaac ReedIsaac Reed was an English Shakespearean editor.-Life:The son of a baker, he was born in London. He was articled to a solicitor, and eventually set up as a conveyancer at Staple Inn, where he had a large practice.-Works:...
- Biographia Dramatica - Joseph RitsonJoseph RitsonJoseph Ritson was an English antiquary.He was born at Stockton-on-Tees, of a Westmorland yeoman family. He was educated for the law, and settled in London as a conveyancer at the age of twenty-two. He devoted his spare time to literature, and in 1782 published an attack on Thomas Warton's History...
- Observations on the First Three Volumes of the History of English Poetry (on Thomas WartonThomas WartonThomas Warton was an English literary historian, critic, and poet. From 1785 to 1790 he was the Poet Laureate of England...
) - Jean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques RousseauJean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
- The ConfessionsConfessions (Jean-Jacques Rousseau)Confessions is an autobiographical book by Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In modern times, it is often published with the title The Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau in order to distinguish it from St. Augustine of Hippo's Confessions... - Ignatius SanchoIgnatius SanchoIgnatius Sancho was a composer, actor, and writer. He is the first known Black Briton to vote in a British election. He gained fame in his time as "the extraordinary Negro", and to 18th century British abolitionists he became a symbol of the humanity of Africans and immorality of the slave trade...
- Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African - Thomas SpenceThomas SpenceThomas Spence was an English Radical and advocate of the common ownership of land.-Life:Spence was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England and was the son of a Scottish net and shoe maker....
- The History of Crusonia on Robinson Crusoe's Island - Thomas TyrwhittThomas TyrwhittThomas Tyrwhitt was an English classical scholar and critic.-Life:He was born in London, where he also died. He was educated at Eton and Queen's College, Oxford . In 1756 he was appointed under-secretary at war, in 1762 clerk of the House of Commons...
- A Vindication of the Appendix to the Poems, called Rowley's - Joseph WartonJoseph WartonJoseph Warton was an English academic and literary critic.He was born in Dunsfold, Surrey, England, but his family soon moved to Hampshire, where his father, the Reverend Thomas Warton, became vicar of Basingstoke. There, a few years later, Joseph's younger brother, the more famous Thomas Warton,...
- An Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope - Thomas WartonThomas WartonThomas Warton was an English literary historian, critic, and poet. From 1785 to 1790 he was the Poet Laureate of England...
- An Enquiry into the Authenticity of the Poems Attributed to Thomas Rowley
Births
- April 16 - William JerdanWilliam JerdanWilliam Jerdan , Scottish journalist, was born at Kelso, Scotland.During the years between 1799 and 1806, he spent short periods in a country lawyer's office, a London West India merchant's counting house, an Edinburgh solicitor's chambers, and held the position of surgeon's mate on board H.M...
, journalist (d. 18691869 in literatureThe year 1869 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Macmillan Publishing opens first American office in New York City headed by George Edward Brett-New books:*Louisa May Alcott - Good Wives...
) - June 9 - Peter FisherPeter Fisher (Canadian historian)Peter Fisher was a historian and merchant in the British colony of New Brunswick.Fisher emigrated to New Brunswick from Staten Island, New York at 15 months of age. He was the son of United Empire Loyalist refugees of the American Revolutionary War who fled north in 1783. Fisher's family settled...
, Canadian historian (d. 18481848 in literatureThe year 1848 in literature involved some significant new books.-New books:*R M Ballantyne -Life in the Wilds of North America*Anne Brontë - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall*Edward George Bulwer-Lytton - Harold...
) - unknown date
- Charlotte DacreCharlotte DacreCharlotte Dacre was an English author of Gothic novels.Most references to her today are under the name Charlotte Dacre, but she first wrote under the pseudonym Rosa Matilda, and later adopted a second pseudonym to tease and confuse her critics...
, English novelist (d. 18411841 in literatureThe year 1841 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Horace Greeley begins publication of the New York Tribune.*Punch magazine is founded in London.-New books:*William Harrison Ainsworth - Old St...
) - Grace KennedyGrace KennedyGrace Kennedy was a Scottish writer. She was born at Pinmore in Ayrshire, but at an early age moved to Edinburgh. She wrote novels of a religious tendency which were very popular in their day. By 1920, they were very little read...
, Scottish novelist (d. 18251825 in literatureThe year 1825 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Henri Boulard dies, leaving behind one of the greatest book collections in history, with a library containing more than half a million books.-Fiction:...
) - Georg KoësGeorg KoësGeorg Hendrick Carl Koës was a Danish philologist of the early 19th century. He was the third son of Anna Mathea Falch and Georg Frederik Koës, and was christened on 4 February 1782 in St Peter's, Slagelse....
, philologist (d. 18111811 in literatureThe year 1811 in literature involved some significant new books, including Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility.-New books:*Jane Austen - Sense and Sensibility*Amelia Beauclerc - Eva of Cambria*Mary Brunton - Self-Control...
)
- Charlotte Dacre
Deaths
- January 1 - Juan CrespíJuan CrespiFather Juan Crespí was a Majorcan missionary and explorer of Las Californias. He entered the Franciscan order at the age of seventeen. He came to America in 1749, and accompanied explorers Francisco Palóu and Junípero Serra. In 1767 he went to the Baja Peninsula and was placed in charge of the...
, explorer and diarist (b. 17211721 in literatureThe year 1721 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* Around this time , inoculation for smallpox began in England....
) - February 10 - Friedrich Christoph OetingerFriedrich Christoph OetingerFriedrich Christoph Oetinger was a German theosopher.He was born at Göppingen. He studied philosophy and theology at Tübingen , and was impressed by the works of Jakob Böhme. On the completion of his university course, Oetinger spent some years travelling...
, theosopher (b. 17021702 in literatureThe year 1702 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* March 11 - First publication of the Daily Courant, The year 1702 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* March 11 - First publication of the Daily Courant, The year 1702 in literature involved some significant...
) - February 14 - Thomas NewtonThomas NewtonThomas Newton was an English cleric, biblical scholar and author. He served as the Bishop of Bristol from 1761 to 1782....
, Biblical commentator (b. 17041704 in literatureThe year 1704 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* Battle of Blenheim* The capture of Gibraltar during the War of the Spanish Succession by British and Dutch troops, allies of Archduke Charles, the Austrian pretender to the Spanish Crown.* Architect and dramatist, Sir John...
) - April 12 - MetastasioMetastasioPietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, better known by his pseudonym of Metastasio, was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti.-Early life:...
, Italian poet (b. 16981698 in literatureThe year 1698 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge is formed.* The latest edition of the Bay Psalm Book is the first to include music....
) - December 27 - Henry Home, Lord KamesHenry Home, Lord KamesHenry Home, Lord Kames was a Scottish advocate, judge, philosopher, writer and agricultural improver. A central figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, a founder member of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh, and active in the Select Society, his protégés included James Boswell, David Hume and...
, Scottish philosopher (b. 16961696 in literatureThe year 1696 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*Vincenzo da Filicaja becomes governor of Volterra.*The Kit-Kat Club is founded in London....
) - date unknown - Jean-Martin de PradesJean-Martin de PradesJean-Martin de Prades was a French Catholic theologian. He became famous through a thesis he presented that was considered irreligious.-Life:...
, theologian (b. c. 1720)