1728 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1728 in literature involved some significant events and new books.
Events
- The Universal Spectator and Weekly Journal is founded by 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,...
and Henry BakerHenry Baker (naturalist)Henry Baker was an English naturalist.-Life:He was born in Chancery Lane, London, 8 May 1698, the son of William Baker, a clerk in chancery. In his fifteenth year he was apprenticed to John Parker, a bookseller... - Jonathan SwiftJonathan SwiftJonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
and Thomas Sheridan launch The Intelligencer (periodical). - John RichJohn Rich (producer)John Rich was an important director and theatre manager in 18th century London. He opened the New Theatre at Lincoln's Inn Fields and then the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden and began putting on ever more lavish productions...
, manager of the theatre at Lincoln's Inn FieldsLincoln's Inn FieldsLincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London, UK. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in developing London", as Sir Nikolaus Pevsner observes...
, mounts the first production of The Beggar's OperaThe Beggar's OperaThe Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satirical ballad opera to remain popular today...
by 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...
. Its great success makes "Rich gay and Gay rich."
New books
- Anonymous - Memoirs of an English Officer "by Captain George Carleton"
- Joseph AddisonJoseph AddisonJoseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was a man of letters, eldest son of Lancelot Addison...
- The Christian Poet (posth.) - Penelope AubinPenelope AubinPenelope Aubin was an English novelist and translator.-Works:* The Stuarts : A Pindarique Ode * The Extasy: A Pindarick Ode to Her Majesty The Queen...
- The Life and Adventures of the Young Count Albertus (sequel) - Peter BrownePeter BrownePeter Browne , Irish divine and bishop of Cork and Ross, was born in County Dublin, not long after the Restoration.He entered Trinity College, Dublin, in 1682, and after ten years' residence obtained a fellowship...
- The Procedure, Extent, and Limits of Human Understanding - Ephraim ChambersEphraim ChambersEphraim Chambers was an English writer and encyclopaedist, who is primarily known for producing the Cyclopaedia, or a Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences.-Early life:...
- Cyclopaedia, or, A Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences - Thomas CookeThomas Cooke (author)Thomas Cooke , often called "Hesiod" Cooke, was a very active English translator and author who ran afoul of Alexander Pope and was mentioned as one of the "dunces" in Pope's Dunciad. His father was an inn keeper, and Cooke arrived in London in 1722 and began working as a writer for the Whig causes...
- The Works of Hesiod (first translation of HesiodHesiodHesiod was a Greek oral poet generally thought by scholars to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. His is the first European poetry in which the poet regards himself as a topic, an individual with a distinctive role to play. Ancient authors credited him and...
into English) - John Dennis - Remarks on Mr. Pope's Rape of the Lock
- Henry FieldingHenry FieldingHenry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones....
- The Masquerade ("by Lemuel Gulliver") - James GibbsJames GibbsJames Gibbs was one of Britain's most influential architects. Born in Scotland, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England...
- A Book of Architecture - Eliza HaywoodEliza HaywoodEliza Haywood , born Elizabeth Fowler, was an English writer, actress and publisher. Since the 1980s, Eliza Haywood’s literary works have been gaining in recognition and interest...
- The Agreeable Caledonian - Francis HutchesonFrancis Hutcheson (philosopher)Francis Hutcheson was a philosopher born in Ireland to a family of Scottish Presbyterians who became one of the founding fathers of the Scottish Enlightenment....
- An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections - David MalletDavid Mallet (writer)David Mallet was a Scottish dramatist.He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and went to London in 1723 to work as a private tutor...
- The Excursion - John OldmixonJohn OldmixonJohn Oldmixon was an English historian.He was a son of John Oldmixon of Oldmixon, Weston-super-Mare in Somerset. His first writings were poetry and dramas, among them being Amores Britannici; Epistles historical and gallant ; and a tragedy, The Governor of Cyprus...
- The Arts of Logick and Rhetorick
- An Essay on Criticism
- Robert Lindsay of PitscottieRobert Lindsay of PitscottieRobert Lindsay of Pitscottie was a Scottish chronicler, author of The Historie and Chronicles of Scotland, 1436–1565, the first history of Scotland to be composed in Scots rather than Latin....
- The Historie and Chronicles of Scotland, 1436–1565 (written about 1575, in the Scots languageScots languageScots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
) - Christopher PittChristopher PittChristopher Pitt was a British poet and translator.His translations to English include Virgil's Aeneid and Vida's Art of Poetry.Pitt was educated at Winchester College, leaving in 1719 to study at New College, Oxford...
- An Essay on Virgil's Aeneid - 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...
- The DunciadThe DunciadThe Dunciad is a landmark literary satire by Alexander Pope published in three different versions at different times. The first version was published in 1728 anonymously. The second version, the Dunciad Variorum was published anonymously in 1729. The New Dunciad, in four books and with a... - James RalphJames RalphThis article is about the eighteenth-century American/British writer. For the cricket player, see James Ralph .James Ralph was an American born English political writer, historian, reviewer, and Grub Street hack writer known for his works of history and his position in Alexander Pope's Dunciad B. ...
- Night
- Sawney (answer to Dunciad)
- Zeuma
- Elizabeth RoweElizabeth Rowe-Life:She was the eldest daughter of Elizabeth Portnell and Walter Singer, a dissenting minister. Born in Ilchester, Somerset, England, she began writing at the age of twelve and when she was nineteen, began a correspondence with John Dunton, bookseller and founder of the Athenian Society.Between...
- Friendship in Death - Richard SavageRichard SavageRichard Savage was an English poet. He is best known as the subject of Samuel Johnson's Life of Savage , on which is based one of the most elaborate of Johnson's Lives of the English Poets....
- The Bastard- - Nature in Perfection
- George SewellGeorge SewellGeorge Sewell was an English actor.-Early life and early career:The son of a Hoxton printer and a florist; Sewell left school at age 14 and worked briefly in the printing trade before switching to building work, specifically the repair of bomb-damaged houses...
- Posthumous Works of Dr. George Sewell - Thomas Sheridan - The Satyrs of Persius
- Jonathan SwiftJonathan SwiftJonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
- A Short View of the State of Ireland - James Thomson - Spring (part of The Four Seasons)
- 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...
- Durgen (satire of "a Pompous Satyrist") - William WycherleyWilliam WycherleyWilliam Wycherley was an English dramatist of the Restoration period, best known for the plays The Country Wife and The Plain Dealer.-Biography:...
- The Posthumous Works of William Wycherley, edited by Lewis Theobald (part of TheobaldLewis TheobaldLewis Theobald , British textual editor and author, was a landmark figure both in the history of Shakespearean editing and in literary satire...
's and Curll'sEdmund CurllEdmund Curll was an English bookseller and publisher. His name has become synonymous, through the attacks on him by Alexander Pope, with unscrupulous publication and publicity. Curll rose from poverty to wealth through his publishing, and he did this by approaching book printing in a mercenary...
battle with Pope and other "Tory" wits) - Edward YoungEdward YoungEdward Young was an English poet, best remembered for Night Thoughts.-Early life:He was the son of Edward Young, later Dean of Salisbury, and was born at his father's rectory at Upham, near Winchester, where he was baptized on 3 July 1683. He was educated at Winchester College, and matriculated...
- Ocean
- A Vindication of Providence
New drama
- 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...
& Sir John VanbrughJohn VanbrughSir John Vanbrugh – 26 March 1726) was an English architect and dramatist, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restoration comedies, The Relapse and The Provoked Wife , which have become enduring stage favourites...
- A Journey to London - Henry FieldingHenry FieldingHenry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones....
- Love in Several Masques - 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 Beggar's OperaThe Beggar's OperaThe Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satirical ballad opera to remain popular today...
(opera) - Pierre de MarivauxPierre de MarivauxPierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux , commonly referred to as Marivaux, was a French novelist and dramatist....
- Le Trionphe de Plutus - John MottleyJohn MottleyJohn Mottley was an English writer, known as a dramatist, biographer, and compiler of jokes.-Life:He was the son of Colonel Thomas Mottley, a Jacobite adherent of James II in his exile, who entered the service of Louis XIV, and was killed at the battle of Turin in 1706; his mother was Dionisia,...
- The Craftsman - Alexis PironAlexis PironAlexis Piron was a French epigrammatist and dramatist.He was born at Dijon, where his father, Aimé Piron, was an apothecary. Piron senior wrote verse in the Burgundian language. Alexis began life as clerk and secretary to a banker, and then studied law...
- Les Fils ingrats - Lewis TheobaldLewis TheobaldLewis Theobald , British textual editor and author, was a landmark figure both in the history of Shakespearean editing and in literary satire...
- Double Falsehood, or the Distress'd Lovers (reportedly adapted from CardenioCardenioThe History of Cardenio, often referred to as merely Cardenio, is a lost play, known to have been performed by The King's Men, a London theatre company, in 1613. It was attributed to William Shakespeare and John Fletcher in a Stationers' Register entry of 1653...
, by FletcherJohn Fletcher (playwright)John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...
and Shakespeare) - Sir John Vanbrugh - The Provok'd Husband
Births
- January 9 - Thomas WartonThomas WartonThomas Warton was an English literary historian, critic, and poet. From 1785 to 1790 he was the Poet Laureate of England...
(died 1790) - September 14 - Mercy Otis WarrenMercy Otis WarrenMercy Otis Warren was a political writer and propagandist of the American Revolution. In the eighteenth century, topics such as politics and war were thought to be the province of men. Few women had the education or training to write about these subjects. Warren was the exception...
(died 1814) - November 10 - Oliver GoldsmithOliver GoldsmithOliver Goldsmith was an Irish writer, poet and physician known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield , his pastoral poem The Deserted Village , and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man and She Stoops to Conquer...
(died 1774) - Robert BageRobert BageRobert Bage may refer to:* Robert Bage , English novelist* Edward Frederick Robert Bage , Australian explorer and soldier...
, novelist
Deaths
- January 28 - Esther JohnsonEsther JohnsonEsther Johnson was the English friend of Jonathan Swift, known as "Stella".Newfoundland-born author Trudy J. Morgan-Cole wrote a novel in 2006 detailing fictionalized portions of the Swift/Johnson friendship in The Violent Friendship of Esther Johnson...
known as "StellaStella-People:*Stella , a feminine given name** Stella McCartney, English fashion designer** Stella , Singaporean-Taiwanese singer** Stella Maessen, Dutch singer, sometimes going under the singular name of Stella-Fictional characters:...
", inspiration of Jonathan SwiftJonathan SwiftJonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
(born 1681) - September 23 - Christian ThomasiusChristian ThomasiusChristian Thomasius was a German jurist and philosopher.- Biography :He was born at Leipzig and was educated by his father, Jakob Thomasius , at that time head master of Thomasschule zu Leipzig...
, publisher and general author (born 1655) - date unknown - Gabriel DanielGabriel DanielGabriel Daniel , French Jesuit historian, was born in Rouen.He was educated by the Jesuits, entered the order at the age of eighteen, and became superior at Paris.-Works:...
, Jesuit historian (born 1649) - Cotton MatherCotton MatherCotton Mather, FRS was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author and pamphleteer; he is often remembered for his role in the Salem witch trials...
- White KennettWhite KennettWhite Kennett was an English bishop and antiquarian.-Life:He was born at Dover. He was educated at Westminster School and at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where, while an undergraduate, he published several translations of Latin works, including Erasmus' In Praise of Folly.Kennett was vicar of...