1711 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1711 in literature involved some significant events.
Events
- The SpectatorThe Spectator (1711)The Spectator was a daily publication of 1711–12, founded by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele in England after they met at Charterhouse School. Eustace Budgell, a cousin of Addison's, also contributed to the publication. Each 'paper', or 'number', was approximately 2,500 words long, and the...
founded by Joseph AddisonJoseph AddisonJoseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was a man of letters, eldest son of Lancelot Addison...
and 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....
. - After defeat at the Battle of Stănileşti, Dimitrie CantemirDimitrie CantemirDimitrie Cantemir was twice Prince of Moldavia . He was also a prolific man of letters – philosopher, historian, composer, musicologist, linguist, ethnographer, and geographer....
flees to Russia and begins writing his most important works. - William WhistonWilliam WhistonWilliam Whiston was an English theologian, historian, and mathematician. He is probably best known for his translation of the Antiquities of the Jews and other works by Josephus, his A New Theory of the Earth, and his Arianism...
loses his professorship at Cambridge for contesting the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. - 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...
becomes editor of The British Mercury. - Robert WilksRobert WilksRobert Wilks was a British actor and theatrical manager who was one of the leading managers of Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in its heyday of the 1710s...
, Colley CibberColley CibberColley Cibber was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber describes his life in a personal, anecdotal and even rambling style...
and Anne OldfieldAnne OldfieldAnne Oldfield , English actress, was born in London, the daughter of a soldier.She worked for a time as apprentice to a seamstress, until she attracted George Farquhar's attention by reciting some lines from a play in his hearing...
form a partnership to manage the 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,...
. - Robert Harley, author, statesman, and friend to the "tory wits," who had been involved in Anne's ministry for some time, was created Earl of Oxford.
- Jack the Giant-KillerJack the Giant-killer"Jack the Giant Killer" is a British fairy tale about a plucky lad who slays a number of giants during King Arthur's reign. The tale is characterized by violence, gore, and blood-letting. Giants are prominent in Cornish folklore and Welsh Bardic lore, but the source of "Jack the Giant Killer" is...
appears in print for the first time.
New books
- Francis AtterburyFrancis AtterburyFrancis Atterbury was an English man of letters, politician and bishop.-Early life:He was born at Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire, where his father was rector. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he became a tutor...
- Representation of the State of Religion - Richard BlackmoreRichard BlackmoreSir Richard Blackmore , English poet and physician, is remembered primarily as the object of satire and as an example of a dull poet. He was, however, a respected physician and religious writer....
- The Nature of Man - Pierre Boileau - The Works of Monsieur Boileau, vol. 1 (published by John OzellJohn OzellJohn Ozell was an English translator and accountant who became an adversary to Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope.He moved to London from the country at around the age of twenty and entered an accounting firm, where he was successful in managing the accounts of several large entities, including the...
) - Abel BoyerAbel BoyerAbel Boyer was a French-English lexicographer, journalist and miscellaneous writer.-Biography:Abel Boyer was probably born on 24 June 1667 at Castres, in Upper Languedoc. His father, Pierre Boyer, one of the two consuls or chief magistrates of Castres, had been suspended and fined for his...
- The Political State of Great Britain - Jean ChardinJean ChardinJean Chardin , born Jean-Baptiste Chardin, and also known as Sir John Chardin, was a French jeweller and traveller whose ten-volume book The Travels of Sir John Chardin is regarded as one of the finest works of early Western scholarship on Persia and the Near East.-Life and work:Chardin was born in...
- Voyages de monsieur le chevalier Chardin en Perse et autres lieux de l'orient (The Travels of Sir John Chardin in Persia and the Orient) - Giuseppe ColombaniGiuseppe ColombaniGiuseppe Colombani is known as l'Alfier lombardo He wrote a treatise on martial arts, published in 1711. It is the latest known treatise discussing the spadone, or longsword, before the revivalist movements of historical fencing in the 20th century....
- Unnamed treatise on the use of the spadone - Shaftesbury - Characteristics of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (aka "Shaftesbury's Characteristics")
- 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,...
- The British Visions- - An Essay on the History of Parties
- - An Essay on the South-Sea Trade
- - The Present State of the Parties in Great Britain (attrib.)
- - The Secret History of the October Club
- John Dennis - Reflections Critical and Satyrical, Upon a Late Rhapsody call'd, An Essay upon Criticism (Dennis's counterattack on Alexander Pope)
- 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...
- The Present State of Wit (satirical answer to Defoe) - William KingWilliam King (poet)-Life:Born in London, the son of Ezekiel King, he was related to the family of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon. From Westminster School, where he was a scholar under Richard Busby, at the age of eighteen he was elected to Christ Church, Oxford in 1681. There he is said to have dedicated himself...
- The History of the Heathen Gods - George Mackenzie - Several Proposals Conducting to a Further Union of Britain
- 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...
- An Essay on CriticismAn Essay on CriticismAn Essay on Criticism is one of the first major poems written by the English writer Alexander Pope . It is written in a type of rhyming verse called heroic couplets.... - 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....
, Joseph AddisonJoseph AddisonJoseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was a man of letters, eldest son of Lancelot Addison...
, Eustace BudgellEustace BudgellEustace Budgell was an English writer and politician.Born in St Thomas near Exeter, Budgell was educated at Oxford University. His cousin, the writer Joseph Addison, took him to Ireland and got him appointed to a lucrative office...
, et al. - The SpectatorThe SpectatorThe Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture... - John StrypeJohn StrypeJohn Strype was an English historian and biographer. He was a cousin of Robert Knox, a famous sailor.Born in Houndsditch, London, he was the son of John Strype, or van Stryp, a member of a Huguenot family whom, in order to escape religious persecution within Brabant, had settled in East London...
- The Life and Acts of Matthew Parker - Jonathan SwiftJonathan SwiftJonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
- Miscellanies in Prose and Verse
- The Conduct of the Allies (contra MarlboroughJohn Churchill, 1st Duke of MarlboroughJohn Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
and the War of the Spanish SuccessionWar of the Spanish SuccessionThe War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
)
- Thormodus TorfæusThormodus TorfæusThormodus Torfæus was an Icelandic historian, born May 27, 1636, at Engey, Iceland, and educated at the University of Copenhagen. He lived and worked for most of his life in Kopervik, Karmøy, Norway...
- Historia Rerum Norvegicarum - 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 Life and Notable Adventures of that Renown'd Knight Don Quixote de la Mancha (in verse) - William WhistonWilliam WhistonWilliam Whiston was an English theologian, historian, and mathematician. He is probably best known for his translation of the Antiquities of the Jews and other works by Josephus, his A New Theory of the Earth, and his Arianism...
- Primitive Christianity Revived, vol. 1
New drama
- Chikamatsu - The Courier for HellThe Courier for HellThe Courier for Hell or Courier of Hell is a love-suicide play by Chikamatsu written in 1711. It follows a similar storyline to some of his other love-suicide plays, including The Love Suicides at Sonezaki and The Love Suicides at Amijima...
(Meido no hikyaku) - 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 Man of Mode
Births
- April 12 - Guillaume Thomas François RaynalGuillaume Thomas François RaynalGuillaume Thomas Raynal was a French writer and man of letters during the Age of Enlightenment.He was born at Lapanouse in Rouergue...
, French writer (died 1796) - May 7 - David HumeDavid HumeDavid Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...
, philosopher (died 1776) - May 18 - Roger Joseph BoscovichRoger Joseph BoscovichRuđer Josip Bošković was a theologian, physicist, astronomer, mathematician, philosopher, diplomat, poet, Jesuit, and a polymath from the city of Dubrovnik in the Republic of Ragusa , who studied and lived in Italy and France where he also published many of his works.He is famous for...
, poet and polymath (died 1787) - May 31 - Johann Heinrich Samuel FormeyJohann Heinrich Samuel FormeyJohann Heinrich Samuel Formey was a German author who wrote in French.-Life:Formey was born in Berlin, Brandenburg, as the son of immigrant Huguenots. He was educated for the ministry, and at the age of twenty became pastor of the French Protestant church at Brandenburg...
, philosopher (died 1797) - October 17 - Jupiter HammonJupiter HammonJupiter Hammon was a Black poet who became the first African-American published writer in America when a poem appeared in print in 1760. He was a slave his entire life, and the date of his death is unknown. He was living in 1790 at the age of 79, and died by 1806...
, poet (died c.1806) - November 19 - Mikhail LomonosovMikhail LomonosovMikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov was a Russian polymath, scientist and writer, who made important contributions to literature, education, and science. Among his discoveries was the atmosphere of Venus. His spheres of science were natural science, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, history, art,...
, Russian writer and polymath (died 1765) - date unknown
- William SmithWilliam Smith (scholar)Very Revd. Dr William Smith , Dean of Chester, Greek and Latin scholar.Smith was born in Worcester in 1711, the son of the rector of St Nicholas' Church. He was sent to RGS Worcester after which he proceeded to New College, Oxford in 1728. He remained here for many years gaining four degrees...
, classical scholar (died 1787) - William TytlerWilliam TytlerWilliam Tytler , historical writer, was a lawyer in Edinburgh,and wrote An Inquiry into the Evidence against Mary Queen of Scots, in...
, historian (died 1792) - Kitty CliveKitty CliveCatherine "Kitty" Clive was a British actress of considerable repute on the stages of London.Most likely born in London, her father William Raftor was an Irishman and former officer in the French army under Louis XIV...
, actress (died 1785)
- William Smith
Deaths
- January 5 - Mary RowlandsonMary RowlandsonMary Rowlandson was a colonial American woman who was captured by Native Americans during King Philip's War and held for 11 weeks before being ransomed. After her release, she wrote a book about her experience, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God: Being a Narrative of the Captivity and...
, author of A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (born 1635) - March 13 - Nicolas Boileau-DespréauxNicolas Boileau-DespréauxNicolas Boileau-Despréaux was a French poet and critic.-Biography:Boileau was born in the rue de Jérusalem, in Paris, France. He was brought up to the law, but devoted to letters, associating himself with La Fontaine, Racine, and Molière...
(born 1636) - March 19 - Bishop Thomas KenThomas KenThomas Ken was an English cleric who was considered the most eminent of the English non-juring bishops, and one of the fathers of modern English hymnology.-Early life:...
, theologian and hymn-writer (born 1637) - April 11 - François LamyFrançois LamyFrançois Lamy was a French Benedictine ascetical and apologetic writer, of the Congregation of St-Maur.-Life:Lamy was born at Montireau in the Department of Eure-et-Loir. While fighting a duel, he was saved from a fatal sword-thrust by a book of the Rule of St. Benedict which he carried in his...
, French Benedictine apologist (born 1636) - May 2 - Laurence Hyde, 1st Earl of RochesterLaurence Hyde, 1st Earl of RochesterLaurence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester KG PC was an English statesman and writer. He was originally a supporter of James II but later supported the Glorious Revolution in 1688.-Early life:...
, statesman and writer (born 1641) - June 7 - Henry DodwellHenry DodwellHenry Dodwell was an Anglo-Irish scholar, theologian and controversial writer.-Life:He was born in Dublin, Ireland. His father, William Dodwell, lost his property in Connacht during the Irish rebellion and settled at York in 1648...
, theologian (born 1641) - October 3 - Richard BulstrodeRichard BulstrodeSir Richard Bulstrode was an English author, diplomat and soldier, a son of Edward Bulstrode .-Life and family:...
, memoirist (born 1610) - November 3 - John Ernest GrabeJohn Ernest GrabeJohn Ernest Grabe , Anglican divine, was born at Königsberg, where his father, Martin Sylvester Grabe, was professor of theology and history....
, theologian (born 1666) - date unknown
- John CaryllJohn Caryll (senior)John Caryll , 1st Baron Caryll of Durford in the Jacobite Peerage, was a poet, dramatist, and diplomat; not to be confused with his nephew, John Caryll, the dedicatee of Alexander Pope's Rape of the Lock....
, poet, dramatist and diplomat (born 1625) - Richard DukeRichard DukeRichard Duke was an English clergyman and poet, associated with the Tory writers of the Restoration era.-Life:He was born in London, son of Richard Duke, and was admitted to Westminster School in 1670. He was elected to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1675, and proceeded B.A. in 1678, M.A. in 1682...
, poet (born 1658) - John Norris, philosopher and poet (born 1657)
- John Caryll