1790 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1790 in literature involved some significant events and new books.
Events
- June 9 - The Philadelphia Spelling Book by John Barry becomes the first bookBookA book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
to be copyrightCopyrightCopyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
ed in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. - The very literary Thomas de MahyThomas de Mahy, marquis de FavrasThomas de Mahy, marquis de Favras was a French aristocrat and supporter of the House of Bourbon during the French Revolution.-Activities:...
, Marquis de Favras (1744–1790), was arrested by the radicals of the French RevolutionFrench RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and charged with plotting to help King Louis XVILouis XVI of FranceLouis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
and Marie AntoinetteMarie AntoinetteMarie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
escape the country. Convicted of treasonTreasonIn law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
, de Mahy was handed his official death sentence by the court clerk. The Marquis read the paper and shaking his head in disgust said: "I see that you have made three spelling mistakes." - Thomas Warton is succeeded as Poet LaureatePoet LaureateA poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
of Great Britain by Henry James PyeHenry James PyeHenry James Pye was an English poet. Pye was Poet Laureate from 1790 until his death. He was the first poet laureate to receive a fixed salary of £27 instead of the historic tierce of Canary wine Henry James Pye (20 February 1745 – 11 August 1813) was an English poet. Pye was Poet Laureate...
. - The Royal Literary FundRoyal Literary FundThe Royal Literary Fund is a benevolent fund set up to help published British writers in financial difficulties. It was founded by Reverend David Williams in 1790 and has received bequests and donations, including royal patronage, ever since...
is founded by David WilliamsDavid Williams (philosopher)David Williams , was a Welsh philosopher of the Enlightenment period. He was an ordained minister, theologian and political polemicist, and was the founder in 1788 of the Royal Literary Fund.-Upbringing:...
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New books
- Xavier de MaistreXavier de MaistreXavier de Maistre of Savoy , lived largely as a military man, but is known as a French writer. The younger brother of noted philosopher and counter-revolutionary Joseph de Maistre, Xavier was born to an aristocratic family at Chambéry in October 1763...
- Voyage around my Room - Mary PilkingtonMary PilkingtonMary Pilkington was an English novelist and poet.She was born in Cambridge, England. When her father died, she was aged fifteen, and went to live with her grandfather. The man who had taken over her father's medical practice became Mary's husband in 1786. While he was away working as a naval...
- Delia - Ann RadcliffeAnn RadcliffeAnne Radcliffe was an English author, and considered the pioneer of the gothic novel . Her style is romantic in its vivid descriptions of landscapes, and long travel scenes, yet the Gothic element is obvious through her use of the supernatural...
- A Sicilian RomanceA Sicilian RomanceA Sicilian Romance is a gothic novel by Ann Radcliffe. It was her second published work, and was first published anonymously in 1790.The plot concerns the turbulent history of the fallen aristocrats of the house of Mazzini, on the northern shore of Sicily, as related by a tourist who becomes... - Alexander RadishchevAlexander RadishchevAlexander Nikolayevich Radishchev was a Russian author and social critic who was arrested and exiled under Catherine the Great. He brought the tradition of radicalism in Russian literature to prominence with the publication in 1790 of his Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow...
- Journey from St. Petersburg to MoscowJourney from St. Petersburg to MoscowThe Journey From St. Petersburg to Moscow , published in 1790, was the most famous work by the Russian writer Aleksandr Nikolayevich Radishchev.... - Hasan Shah - The Dancing GirlThe Dancing Girlwas the first published short story by the Japanese writer Mori Ogai. The story first appeared in Kokumin no Tomo in 1890, and is based on Mori's own experiences as a medical student in Germany...
- 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...
- Julia
New poetry
- 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...
- The Marriage of Heaven and HellThe Marriage of Heaven and HellThe Marriage of Heaven and Hell is a book by the English poet and printmaker William Blake. It is a series of texts written in imitation of biblical prophecy but expressing Blake's own intensely personal Romantic and revolutionary beliefs. Like his other books, it was published as printed sheets... - Robert BurnsRobert BurnsRobert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
- "Tam o' ShanterTam o' Shanter (Burns poem)"Tam o' Shanter" is a poem written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1790. Many consider it to be one of the best examples of the narrative poem in modern European literature....
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Non-fiction
- Samuel AyscoughSamuel AyscoughSamuel Ayscough was a librarian and indexer, known as 'The Prince of Indexers'.Ayscough was a cataloguer in the British Museum in the late 18th century, and spent two years working on a catalogue of the manuscript collection...
- An Index to the Remarkable Passages and Words Made Use of by Shakespeare, the first Shakespeare concordanceConcordanceConcordance can mean:* Concordance , a list of words used in a body of work, with their immediate contexts* Concordance , the presence of the same trait in both members of a pair of twins...
ever published - James BruceJames BruceJames Bruce was a Scottish traveller and travel writer who spent more than a dozen years in North Africa and Ethiopia, where he traced the origins of the Blue Nile.-Youth:...
- Travels to Discover the Source of the NileTravels to Discover the Source of the NileTravels to Discover the Source of the Nile, In the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772 and 1773 is a multi-volume account of the Scottish traveller James Bruce of his journeys in the Horn of Africa, which includes an eye-witness account of Ethiopian history and culture, as well as a description of...
(first edition) - Edmund BurkeEdmund BurkeEdmund Burke PC was an Irish statesman, author, orator, political theorist and philosopher who, after moving to England, served for many years in the House of Commons of Great Britain as a member of the Whig party....
- Reflections on the Revolution in FranceReflections on the Revolution in FranceReflections on the Revolution in France , by Edmund Burke, is one of the best-known intellectual attacks against the French Revolution... - 29 November (first edition) - Mary WollstonecraftMary WollstonecraftMary Wollstonecraft was an eighteenth-century British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. During her brief career, she wrote novels, treatises, a travel narrative, a history of the French Revolution, a conduct book, and a children's book...
- A Vindication of the Rights of MenA Vindication of the Rights of MenA Vindication of the Rights of Men, in a Letter to the Right Honourable Edmund Burke; Occasioned by His Reflections on the Revolution in France is a political pamphlet, written by the 18th-century British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, which attacks aristocracy and advocates republicanism... - Jean PaulJean PaulJean Paul , born Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, was a German Romantic writer, best known for his humorous novels and stories.-Life and work:...
- Leben des vergnügten Schulmeisterlein Maria Wutz
Births
- January 1 - James WillsJames WillsJames Wills, , was an Irish writer and poet.Wills was born in County Roscommon, the younger son of a landowner. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and studied law in the Middle Temple, London...
, Irish poet (d. 1868) - January 10 - Anders Abraham GrafströmAnders Abraham GrafströmAnders Abraham Grafström was a Swedish historian, priest and poet.In 1819, Grafström was the library secretary of Uppsala University. The following year he was named as a lecturer in history at the university, and he later taught at the Military Academy Karlberg...
- March 6 - Jacques AragoJacques AragoJacques Étienne Victor Arago was a French writer, artist and explorer, author of a Voyage Round the World.-Biography:...
, French traveller and writer (d. 1855) - March 18 - Marquis de CustineMarquis de CustineAstolphe-Louis-Léonor, Marquis de Custine was a French aristocrat and writer who is best known for his travel writing, in particular his account of his visit to Russia in 1839 Empire of the Czar: A Journey Through Eternal Russia...
, French aristocrat and travel writer (d. 1857) - June 9 - Abel-François VillemainAbel-François VillemainAbel-François Villemain was a French politician and writer.-Biography:Villemain was born in Paris and educated at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand. He became assistant master at the Lycée Charlemagne, and subsequently at the École Normale. In 1812 he gained a prize from the Academy with an essay on Michel...
, French politician and writer (d. 1870) - June 24 - Helena EkblomHelena EkblomHelena Sophia Ekblom, known as Predikare-Lena and Vita jungfrun , was a Swedish writer and preacher.- Biography :...
, Swedish writer and preacher (d. 1859) - October 1 - Charlotte Elizabeth TonnaCharlotte Elizabeth TonnaCharlotte Elizabeth Tonna was an English evangelical Protestant writer and novelist who wrote as Charlotte Elizabeth.- Life :...
, English novelist (d. 1846) - October 21 - Alphonse de LamartineAlphonse de LamartineAlphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine was a French writer, poet and politician who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic.-Career:...
, French poet (d. 1869)
Deaths
- April 29 - Charles-Nicolas CochinCharles-Nicolas CochinCharles-Nicolas Cochin was a French engraver, designer, writer, and art critic. To distinguish him from his father of the same name, he is variously called Charles-Nicolas Cochin le Jeune , Charles-Nicolas Cochin le fils , or Charles-Nicolas Cochin II.-Early life:Cochin was born in Paris, the son of...
, art critic (b. 1715) - May 2 - Martin MadanMartin MadanMartin Madan was an English barrister, clergyman and writer, known for controversial views on marriage expressed in his book Thelyphthora.-Life:...
, English clergyman and writer (b. 1726) - May 6 - Jacques Antoine Hippolyte, Comte de GuibertJacques Antoine Hippolyte, Comte de GuibertJacques-Antoine-Hippolyte, Comte de Guibert was a French general and military writer. Born at Montabaun, he accompanied his father in wars before he became a general himself...
, French military writer (b. 1743) - May 21 - Thomas WartonThomas WartonThomas Warton was an English literary historian, critic, and poet. From 1785 to 1790 he was the Poet Laureate of England...
, poet (b. 1798) - July 7 - François HemsterhuisFrançois HemsterhuisFrançois Hemsterhuis was a Dutch writer on aesthetics and moral philosophy.The son of Tiberius Hemsterhuis, he was born at Franeker in the Netherlands. He was educated at the University of Leiden, where he studied Plato...
, Dutch philosopher (b. 1721) - July 17 - Adam SmithAdam SmithAdam Smith was a Scottish social philosopher and a pioneer of political economy. One of the key figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, Smith is the author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments and An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations...
, Scottish philosopher (b. 1723) - December 17 - Martin BergameMartin BergameMartin Bergame , was a Hungarian poet who achieved little fame in his lifetime, but was minorly influential to the Hungarian poetry scene of the late 18th century. He was born in at the age of 56...
, Hungarian poet (b. 1734) - probable - Marc-Antoine EidousMarc-Antoine EidousMarc-Antoine Eidous was a French writer, translator and Encyclopedist born in Marseilles.His translations included works on the subjects of philosophy, travel and agriculture by English and Scottish authors:...
, French Encyclopedist (b. c. 1724)