1812 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1812 in literature involved some significant events.
Events
- Series of lectures on drama and ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
- Samuel Taylor ColeridgeSamuel Taylor ColeridgeSamuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla... - Washington IrvingWashington IrvingWashington Irving was an American author, essayist, biographer and historian of the early 19th century. He was best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle", both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. His historical works...
begins editing Analectic magazine. - Frederick MarryatFrederick MarryatCaptain Frederick Marryat was an English Royal Navy officer, novelist, and a contemporary and acquaintance of Charles Dickens, noted today as an early pioneer of the sea story...
is promoted to lieutenant after distinguished service at sea in the War of 1812War of 1812The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. - The rebuilt Theatre Royal, Drury LaneTheatre Royal, Drury LaneThe Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
opens on October 10.
Fiction
- Amelia Beauclerc - The Castle of Tariffa
- Bridget Bluemantle - The Vindictive Spirit
- Maria EdgeworthMaria EdgeworthMaria Edgeworth was a prolific Anglo-Irish writer of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and was a significant figure in the evolution of the novel in Europe...
:- The AbsenteeThe AbsenteeThe Absentee is a novel by Maria Edgeworth, published in 1812 in Tales of Fashionable Life, that expresses the systemic evils of the absentee landlord class of Anglo-Irish and the desperate condition of the Irish peasantry....
- Emilie de Coulanges
- Vivian
- The Absentee
- Grimm's Fairy TalesGrimm's Fairy TalesChildren's and Household Tales is a collection of German origin fairy tales first published in 1812 by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, the Brothers Grimm. The collection is commonly known today as Grimms' Fairy Tales .-Composition:...
, volume 1 - Ann HattonAnn HattonAnn Julia Hatton , was a popular novelist in Britain in the early 19th century.-Biography:...
- The Fortress del Vechii - Anthony Frederick Holstein – The Modern Kate
- Charles Robert Maturin - The Milesian Chief
- Henrietta Rouviere Mosse - Arrivals from India
- Rebecca RushRebecca RushRebecca Rush was a writer in the early United States. She published her only known book, Kelroy, in 1812 at the age of thirty-three. Unfortunately, the book was not much noticed because it appeared on the eve of the War of 1812, which overshadowed its publication.Very little is known about...
- KelroyKelroyKelroy was published in 1812 by United States writer Rebecca Rush. Although the novel has been much admired by scholars of this period, the books did not receive much attention when it was published... - George Soane – The Eve of San Marco
- Louisa StanhopeLouisa StanhopeLouisa Sidney Stanhope was an English novelist of the early 19th century. She wrote mainly historical and Gothic romances.-Novels:*Montbrasil Abbey: or, Maternal Trials...
- The Confessional of Valombre - Elizabeth ThomasElizabeth Thomas (Poet/novelist)Elizabeth Thomas [née Wolferstan] , novelist and poet, is an ambiguous figure. Details of her early life are missing, and her authorship of some works attributed to her is contested....
– The Vindictive Spirit - Jane WestJane WestJane West [née Iliffe] , who published as "Prudentia Homespun" and "Mrs. West," was an English novelist, poet, playwright, and writer of conduct literature and educational tracts.- Life :...
- The Loyalists: An Historical Novel - Johann David WyssJohann David WyssJohann David Wyss is best remembered for his book The Swiss Family Robinson. It is said that he was inspired by Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, but wanted to write a story from which his own children would learn, as the father in the story taught important lessons to his children...
- The Swiss Family RobinsonThe Swiss Family Robinson-History:Written by Swiss pastor Johann David Wyss and edited by his son Johann Rudolf Wyss, the novel was intended to teach his four sons about family values, good husbandry, the uses of the natural world and self-reliance...
Non-fiction
- John Galt - Cursory Reflections on Political and Commercial Topics
- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich HegelGeorg Wilhelm Friedrich HegelGeorg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher, one of the creators of German Idealism. His historicist and idealist account of reality as a whole revolutionized European philosophy and was an important precursor to Continental philosophy and Marxism.Hegel developed a comprehensive...
- Die objektive Logik - W. M. Leake - Greece
- James Maitland, 8th Earl of LauderdaleJames Maitland, 8th Earl of LauderdaleJames Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale KT PC was Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland, and a representative peer for Scotland in the House of Lords.-Early years:...
- The Depreciation of the Paper-currency of Great Britain Proved - 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...
- The Literary Anecdotes of the 18th Century, volume 1 - Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
- Declaration of Rights
Poetry
- Lord Byron - Childe Harold's PilgrimageChilde Harold's PilgrimageChilde Harold's Pilgrimage is a lengthy narrative poem in four parts written by Lord Byron. It was published between 1812 and 1818 and is dedicated to "Ianthe". The poem describes the travels and reflections of a world-weary young man who, disillusioned with a life of pleasure and revelry, looks...
- Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
- The Devil's Walk: A Ballad - Anna Laetitia BarbauldAnna Laetitia BarbauldAnna Laetitia Barbauld was a prominent English poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, and children's author.A "woman of letters" who published in multiple genres, Barbauld had a successful writing career at a time when female professional writers were rare...
- Eighteen Hundred and ElevenEighteen Hundred and ElevenEighteen Hundred and Eleven: A Poem is a poem by Anna Laetitia Barbauld criticizing Britain's participation in the Napoleonic Wars....
Births
- February 7 - Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, EnglishEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
writer (d. 1870) - February 19 - Zygmunt KrasińskiZygmunt KrasinskiCount Napoleon Stanisław Adam Ludwig Zygmunt Krasiński , a Polish count, is traditionally ranked with Mickiewicz and Słowacki as one of Poland's Three National Bards — the trio of great Romantic poets who influenced national consciousness during the period of Poland's political bondage.-Life and...
, Polish poet - May 7 - Robert BrowningRobert BrowningRobert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
, English poet (d. 1889) - May 12 - Edward LearEdward LearEdward Lear was an English artist, illustrator, author, and poet, renowned today primarily for his literary nonsense, in poetry and prose, and especially his limericks, a form that he popularised.-Biography:...
English writer (d. 1888) - June 18 - Ivan GoncharovIvan GoncharovIvan Alexandrovich Goncharov was a Russian novelist best known as the author of Oblomov .- Biography :Ivan Goncharov was born in Simbirsk ; his father was a wealthy grain merchant and respected official who was elected mayor of Simbirsk several times...
RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n writer (d. 1891) - July 5 - Antonio García GutiérrezAntonio García GutiérrezAntonio García Gutiérrez was a Spanish Romantic dramatist.After having studied medicine in his native town, he moved to Madrid in 1833 and earned a meager living by translating plays of Eugène Scribe and Alexandre Dumas, père...
, Spanish dramatist (d. 1884) - August 22 – Geraldine JewsburyGeraldine JewsburyGeraldine Endsor Jewsbury was an English novelist and woman of letters.-Life and family:Jewsbury was born in Measham, then in Derbyshire, now in Leicestershire. She was the daughter of Thomas Jewsbury , a cotton manufacturer and merchant, and his wife Maria, née Smith,...
, British author (d. 1880) - October 29 - Louise GranbergLouise GranbergLouise Elisabeth Granberg , was a Swedish playwright, translator and theatre director.She was the daughter of the actor and writer Per Adolf Granberg and the sister of the playwright Jeanette Granberg. From 1849 forward, she translated and wrote plays, sometimes jointly with her sister, under the...
, Swedish playwright (.d. 1907) - December 23 - Samuel SmilesSamuel Smiles-Early life:Born in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland, the son of Samuel Smiles of Haddington and Janet Wilson of Dalkeith, Smiles was one of eleven surviving children. The family were strict Cameronians, though when Smiles grew up he was not one of them...
, self-help author (d. 1904)
Deaths
- February 24 - Hugo Kołłątaj, historian and philosopher
- March 24 - Johann Jakob GriesbachJohann Jakob GriesbachJohann Jakob Griesbach , German biblical textual critic, was born at Butzbach, a small town in the state of Hesse, where his father, Konrad Kaspar , was pastor...
, Biblical commentator - July 14 - Christian Gottlob HeyneChristian Gottlob HeyneChristian Gottlob Heyne was a German classical scholar and archaeologist as well as long-time director of the Göttingen State and University Library.-Biography:He was born in Chemnitz, Electorate of Saxony...
, librarian and classicist - November 16 - John Walter, founder of The Times newspaper
- December 22 - Pierre Henri LarcherPierre Henri LarcherPierre Henri Larcher was a French classical scholar and archaeologist.Born at Dijon, and originally intended for the law, he abandoned it for the classics. His translation of Chariton's Callirhoe marked him as an excellent Greek scholar...
, classical scholar - date unknown - Martha BallardMartha BallardMartha Moore Ballard was an American midwife, healer, and diarist.Martha Ballard is known today from her diary, which gives us a rare insight to the life of the average midwife and woman in 18th century Maine. Born on February 20, 1735, Ballard grew up in a moderately prosperous family in Oxford,...
, diarist - date unknown - Jacques Marie BoutetJacques Marie BoutetJacques Marie Boutet was a French actor and comic dramatist from Lunéville. His pseudonym was Monvel. He was a small, thin man without good looks or voice, and yet he became one of the greatest comedians of his time....
, dramatist and actor - date unknown - Zalkind HourwitzZalkind HourwitzZalkind Hourwitz was a Polish Jew active in the political discussions of the French Revolution. His essay, Vindication of the Jews, was one of three winning essays answering the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in the city of Metz's question: "Are there means for making the Jews happier and more...
, essayist - date unknown - Levshin Platon, church historian