1840 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1840 in literature involved some significant new books.
Events
- Novelist Fritz ReuterFritz ReuterFritz Reuter was a novelist from Northern Germany who was one of the most prominent contributors to Low German literature.-Early life:...
is freed from the fortress of Dömitz after two years' imprisonment on a charge of high treason. - The first edition of Peter Parley's Annual, a periodical for children, is published.
New books
- William Harrison AinsworthWilliam Harrison AinsworthWilliam Harrison Ainsworth was an English historical novelist born in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in London he met the publisher John Ebers, at that time manager of the King's Theatre, Haymarket...
- The Tower of London - Henry CocktonHenry CocktonHenry Cockton was an English novelist. Born in London, he is remembered as the author of The Life and Adventures of Valentine Vox, the Ventriloquist which was parodied by Timothy Portwine as The Adventures of Valentine Vaux; or, the tricks of a Ventriloquist .Other Cockton novels include...
- Valentine Vox - James Fenimore CooperJames Fenimore CooperJames Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo...
- The Pathfinder, or The Inland SeaThe Pathfinder, or The Inland SeaThe Pathfinder, or The Inland Sea is an historical novel by James Fenimore Cooper first published in 1840. It is the fourth novel Cooper wrote featuring Natty Bumppo, his fictitious frontier hero, and is considered as forming the third chronological episode of the Leatherstocking Tales... - Richard Henry Dana, Jr.Richard Henry Dana, Jr.Richard Henry Dana Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, a descendant of an eminent colonial family who gained renown as the author of the American classic, the memoir Two Years Before the Mast...
- Two Years Before the MastTwo Years Before the MastTwo Years Before the Mast is a book by the American author Richard Henry Dana, Jr., published in 1840, having been written after a two-year sea voyage starting in 1834. A film adaptation under the same name was released in 1946.- Background :... - Alexandre Dumas, pèreAlexandre Dumas, pèreAlexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
- Otho the Archer - Thomas IngoldsbyRichard Harris BarhamRichard Harris Barham was an English cleric of the Church of England, novelist, and humorous poet. He was known better by his nom de plume Thomas Ingoldsby.-Life:Richard Harris Barham was born in Canterbury...
- The Ingoldsby LegendsThe Ingoldsby LegendsThe Ingoldsby Legends is a collection of myths, legends, ghost stories and poetry written supposedly by Thomas Ingoldsby of Tappington Manor, actually a pen-name of an English clergyman named Richard Harris Barham.... - Mikhail LermontovMikhail LermontovMikhail Yuryevich Lermontov , a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucasus", became the most important Russian poet after Alexander Pushkin's death in 1837. Lermontov is considered the supreme poet of Russian literature alongside Pushkin and the greatest...
- A Hero of Our TimeA Hero of Our TimeA Hero of Our Time is a novel by Mikhail Lermontov, written in 1839 and revised in 1841. It is an example of the superfluous man novel, noted for its compelling Byronic hero Pechorin and for the beautiful descriptions of the Caucasus... - 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...
- Olla PodridaOlla podridaOlla podrida is a Spanish stew made from pork and beans and an inconsistent, wide variety of other meats and vegetables, often including chickpeas, depending on the recipe used. The meal is traditionally prepared in a clay pot over several hours...
- Poor JackPoor JackPoor Jack is a novel by the English author Frederick Marryat, published in 1840.It tells the story of Thomas Saunders, a sailor's son and neglected street urchin struggling to survive in Greenwich, London in the early 19th century...
- Olla Podrida
- Harriet MartineauHarriet MartineauHarriet Martineau was an English social theorist and Whig writer, often cited as the first female sociologist....
- The Hour and the Man - Prosper MériméeProsper MériméeProsper Mérimée was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.-Life:...
- Colomba - Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
- Tales of the Grotesque and ArabesqueTales of the Grotesque and ArabesqueTales of the Grotesque and Arabesque is a collection of previously published short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1840.-Publication:It was published by the Philadelphia firm Lea & Blanchard and released in two volumes... - William Makepeace ThackerayWilliam Makepeace ThackerayWilliam Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.-Biography:...
- Catherine - Edward William LaneEdward William LaneEdward William Lane was a British Orientalist, translator and lexicographer....
publishes an English version of The Arabian Nights
New drama
- Christian Hebbel - Judith
- Jose Zorilla - El Zapatero y el Rey
Poetry
- Victor HugoVictor HugoVictor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
- Les Rayons et les OmbresLes Rayons et les OmbresLes Rayons et les Ombres is a collection of forty-four poems by Victor Hugo, the last collection to be published before his exile, and containing most of his poems from between 1837 and 1840.One biographer Les Rayons et les Ombres ("Beams and shadows", 1840) is a collection of forty-four poems by... - Mikhail LermontovMikhail LermontovMikhail Yuryevich Lermontov , a Russian Romantic writer, poet and painter, sometimes called "the poet of the Caucasus", became the most important Russian poet after Alexander Pushkin's death in 1837. Lermontov is considered the supreme poet of Russian literature alongside Pushkin and the greatest...
- The NoviceThe NoviceThe Novice is the second book in The Black Magician series by Trudi Canavan. It was published in 2002 and is the sequel to The Magicians' Guild and is followed by The High Lord...
Non-fiction
- Pierre-Joseph ProudhonPierre-Joseph ProudhonPierre-Joseph Proudhon was a French politician, mutualist philosopher and socialist. He was a member of the French Parliament, and he was the first person to call himself an "anarchist". He is considered among the most influential theorists and organisers of anarchism...
- What is Property?What Is Property?What Is Property?: or, An Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government is an influential work of nonfiction on the concept of property and its relation to anarchist philosophy by the French anarchist and mutualist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, first published in 1840.In the book, Proudhon most... - Alexis de TocquevilleAlexis de TocquevilleAlexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville was a French political thinker and historian best known for his Democracy in America and The Old Regime and the Revolution . In both of these works, he explored the effects of the rising equality of social conditions on the individual and the state in...
- Democracy in AmericaDemocracy in AmericaDe la démocratie en Amérique is a classic French text by Alexis de Tocqueville. A "literal" translation of its title is Of Democracy in America, but the usual translation of the title is simply Democracy in America...
(vol. 2)
Births
- January 18 - Henry Austin DobsonHenry Austin DobsonHenry Austin Dobson , commonly Austin Dobson, was an English poet and essayist.-Life:He was born at Plymouth, the eldest son of George Clarisse Dobson, a civil engineer, of French descent. When he was about eight, the family moved to Holyhead, and his first school was at Beaumaris in Anglesey...
, English author - April 2 - Emile ZolaÉmile ZolaÉmile François Zola was a French writer, the most important exemplar of the literary school of naturalism and an important contributor to the development of theatrical naturalism...
, writer (+ 1902) - June 2 - Thomas HardyThomas HardyThomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
, novelist and poet (+ 1928) - November 29 - Rhoda BroughtonRhoda BroughtonRhoda Broughton was a novelist.-Life:Rhoda Broughton was born in Denbigh in North Wales on 29 November 1840. She was the daughter of the Rev. Delves Broughton youngest son of the Rev. Sir Henry Delves-Broughton, 8th baronet. She developed a taste for literature, especially poetry, as a young girl...
(+ 1920