1731 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1731 in literature involved some significant events and new books.
New books
- Anonymous - The Life of Mr. Cleveland, Natural Son of Oliver Cromwell
- Corporate authorship - The Gentleman's Magazine
- Nicholas AmhurstNicholas AmhurstNicholas Amhurst was an English poet and political writer.Amhurst was born at Marden, Kent. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, and at St John's College, Oxford. In 1719 he was expelled from the university, ostensibly for his irregularities of conduct, but in reality because of his whig...
as "Caleb D'Anvers" - A Collection of Poems - Thomas BayesThomas BayesThomas Bayes was an English mathematician and Presbyterian minister, known for having formulated a specific case of the theorem that bears his name: Bayes' theorem...
- Divine Benevolence - Samuel BoyseSamuel BoyseSamuel Boyse was an Irish poet and writer who worked for Sir Robert Walpole and whose religious verses in particular were prized and reprinted in his time.-Life:...
- Translations and Poems Written on Several Subjects - Ralph CudworthRalph CudworthRalph Cudworth was an English philosopher, the leader of the Cambridge Platonists.-Life:Born at Aller, Somerset, he was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, gaining his MA and becoming a Fellow of Emmanuel in 1639. In 1645, he became master of Clare Hall and professor of Hebrew...
- A Treatise Concerning Eternal and Immutable Morality (posth.) - Robert DodsleyRobert DodsleyRobert Dodsley was an English bookseller and miscellaneous writer.-Life:He was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school....
- An Epistle from a Footman in London to the Celebrated Stephen Duck- - A Sketch of the Miseries of Poverty
- 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 Tragedy of Tragedies; or, The Life and Death of Tom ThumbTom ThumbTom Thumb is a character of English folklore. The History of Tom Thumb was published in 1621, and has the distinction of being the first fairy tale printed in English. Tom is no bigger than his father's thumb, and his adventures include being swallowed by a cow, tangling with giants, and becoming a... - Aaron Hill - Advice to the Poets
- William King - An Essay on the Origin of Evil (transl. from Latin)
- William LawWilliam LawWilliam Law was an English cleric, divine and theological writer.-Early life:Law was born at Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire in 1686. In 1705 he entered as a sizar at Emmanuel College, Cambridge; in 1711 he was elected fellow of his college and was ordained...
- The Case of Reason - William OldysWilliam OldysWilliam Oldys was an English antiquarian and bibliographer.The illegitimate son of Dr William Oldys, chancellor of Lincoln, London was probably his place of birth. His father had held the office of advocate of the admiralty, but lost it in 1693 because he would not prosecute as traitors and...
- A Dissertation Upon Pamphlets - 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 Epistle to the Right Honourable Richard Earl of Burlington ("Epistle to Burlington," and known to contemporaries as "Of False Taste") - Abbé Prévost - Manon LescautManon LescautManon Lescaut is a short novel by French author Abbé Prévost. Published in 1731, it is the seventh and final volume of Mémoires et aventures d'un homme de qualité . It was controversial in its time and was banned in France upon publication...
- 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...
- Letters Moral and Entertaining - Jean TerrassonJean TerrassonJean Terrasson , often referred to as the Abbe Terrasson, was a French priest, author, and most notably a member of the Académie française....
- SethosSethosSethos a pharaoh from Herodotus, Histories :-The Terrasson novel:Sethos became the hero of an improbably influential fantasy novel, Life of Sethos, Taken from Private Memoirs of the Ancient Egyptians, published in 1731 by the French Abbe Jean Terrasson.The book appeared in Paris in 1731 and in an...
, Taken from Private Memoirs of the Ancient Egyptians - Joseph TrappJoseph TrappJoseph Trapp was an English clergyman, academic, poet and pamphleteer. His production as a younger man of occasional verse and dramas led to his appointment as the first Oxford Professor of Poetry in 1708. Later his High Church opinions established him in preferment and position...
- The Works of Virgil
New drama
- Matthew ConcanenMatthew Concanen-Life:He studied law in Ireland but travelled to London as a young man, and began writing political pamphlets in support of the Whig government. He also wrote for newspapers including the London Journal and The Speculatist. He published a volume of poems, some of which were original works and some...
, Edward Roome, & Sir William YongeWilliam YongeSir William Yonge, 4th Baronet KCB FRS , English politician, was the son of Sir Walter Yonge, and great-great-grandson of Walter Yonge of Colyton , whose diaries , more especially four volumes now in the British Museum Sir William Yonge, 4th Baronet KCB FRS (ca. 1693 – 10 August 1755), English...
- The Jovial Crew (opera, adapted from Richard BromeRichard BromeRichard Brome was an English dramatist of the Caroline era.-Life:Virtually nothing is known about Brome's private life. Repeated allusions in contemporary works, like Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair, indicate that Brome started out as a servant of Jonson, in some capacity...
's A Jovial CrewA Jovial CrewA Jovial Crew, or the Merry Beggars is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Richard Brome. First staged in 1641 or 1642 and first published in 1652, it is generally ranked as one of Brome's best plays, and one of the best comedies of the Caroline period; in one critic's view, Brome's The...
) - Theophilus CibberTheophilus CibberTheophilus Cibber was an English actor, playwright, author, and son of the actor-manager Colley Cibber.He began acting at an early age, and followed his father into theatrical management. In 1727, Alexander Pope satirized Theophilus Cibber in his Dunciad as a youth who "thrusts his person full...
- The Lover - Charles CoffeyCharles CoffeyCharles Coffey was an Irish playwright and composer.His best known opera is probably The Beggar’s Wedding , which capitalizes on the success of John Gay's The Beggar's Opera...
& John Mottley - The Devil to Pay (musical adaptation of the play by Thomas JevonThomas JevonThomas Jevon was an English playwright, and one of the first English Harlequins. He began his career as a dancing master, but worked his way onto the stage, and played leading low-comedy parts in London between 1673 and 1688...
) - 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 Triumphs of Love and Honour - 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 Letter-Writers - Philip FrowdePhilip FrowdePhilip Frowde , was a poet.Frowde was the son of Philip Frowde, deputy postmaster-general from 1678 to 1688. His grandfather, Colonel Philip Frowde, for his faithful adherence to Charles I and Charles II was knighted on 10 March 1664–5, and appointed governor of the post office.From Eton, where...
- Philotas - Aaron Hill - Athelwold
- Charles JohnsonCharles Johnson (writer)Charles Johnson was an English playwright, tavern keeper, and enemy of Alexander Pope's. He was a dedicated Whig who allied himself with the Duke of Marlborough, Colley Cibber, and those who rose in opposition to Queen Anne's Tory ministry of 1710 - 1714.Johnson claimed to be trained in the law,...
- The Tragedy of Medea - George LilloGeorge LilloGeorge Lillo was an English playwright and tragedian. He was a jeweler in London as well as a dramatist. He produced his first stage work, Silvia, or The Country Burial, in 1730. A year later, he produced his most famous play, The London Merchant...
- The London Merchant- - George Barnwell
- 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...
- Eurydice - Joseph Mitchell - The Highland Fair
- 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. ...
- The Fall of the Earl of Essex
Births
- November 26 - William CowperWilliam CowperWilliam Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and scenes of the English countryside. In many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry...
, poet (died 1800) - December 12 - Erasmus DarwinErasmus DarwinErasmus Darwin was an English physician who turned down George III's invitation to be a physician to the King. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave trade abolitionist,inventor and poet...
, naturalist (died 1802)
Deaths
- April 21 - 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,...
(born c.1660) - May 11 - Mary AstellMary AstellMary Astell was an English feminist writer and rhetorician. Her advocacy of equal educational opportunities for women has earned her the title "the first English feminist."-Life and career:...
, English feminist - June 20 - 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...
, wit and essayist - August 28 - Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of OrreryCharles Boyle, 4th Earl of OrreryCharles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery KT PC FRS was an English nobleman, statesman and patron of the sciences....
, Jacobite leader and author - December 26 - Antoine Houdar de la MotteAntoine Houdar de la MotteAntoine Houdar de la Motte was a French author.He was born and died in Paris. In 1693 his comedy, Les Originaux, was a complete failure, and so depressed the author that he contemplated joining the Trappists. Four years later he began writing texts for operas and ballets, e.g...
, dramatist (born 1672)