1741 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1741 in literature involved some significant events and new books.
Events
- David GarrickDavid GarrickDavid Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
packs theatres with his performance as 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"...
's Richard IIIRichard III (play)Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
. - The American Magazine begins publication by Andrew Bedford.
New books
- Anonymous
- The Life of Pamela (parody of Richardson's PamelaPamelaPamela, or Virtue Rewarded is an epistolary novel by Samuel Richardson, first published in 1740. It tells the story of a beautiful but poor 15-year old servant-maid named Pamela Andrews whose master, Mr. B, a nobleman, makes unwanted advances towards her after the death of his mother whose maid she...
) - Pamela Censured
- The Life of Pamela (parody of Richardson's Pamela
- Geoffrey ChaucerGeoffrey ChaucerGeoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
- The Canterbury Tales of Chaucer (new edition revives interest in Chaucer's tales) - Stephen DuckStephen DuckStephen Duck was an English poet whose career reflected both the Augustan era's interest in "naturals" and its resistance to classlessness....
- Every Man in his Own Way - 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....
(as "Mr. Conny KeyberColley 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...
") - An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela AndrewsAn Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela AndrewsAn Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews, or Shamela, as it is more commonly known, is a satirical novel written by Henry Fielding and first published in April 1741 under the name of Mr. Conny Keyber. Fielding never owned to writing the work, but it is widely considered to be his... - 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 Anti-Pamela; or Feign’d Innocence DetectedThe Anti-Pamela; or Feign’d Innocence DetectedThe Anti-Pamela; or Feign'd Innocence Detected is a 1741 novel written by Eliza Haywood as a satire of the 1740 novel Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson.- Overview :... - Ludvig HolbergLudvig HolbergLudvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Dano-Norwegian double monarchy, who spent most of his adult life in Denmark. He was influenced by Humanism, the Enlightenment and the Baroque...
- Niels Klim's Underground TravelsNiels Klim's Underground TravelsNiels Klim's Underground Travels, originally published in Latin as Nicolai Klimii Iter Subterraneum , is a satirical science-fiction/fantasy novel written by the Norwegian-Danish author Ludvig Holberg... - John Kelly - Pamela's Conduct in High Life (continuation of Pamela)
- Robert Craggs Nugent - An Ode to Mankind
- 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...
with 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...
and John ArbuthnotJohn ArbuthnotJohn Arbuthnot, often known simply as Dr. Arbuthnot, , was a physician, satirist and polymath in London...
- Memoirs of the Extraordinary Life, Works, and Discoveries of Martinus Scriblerus - Charles Povey - The Virgin in Eden (prose fiction)
- Samuel RichardsonSamuel RichardsonSamuel Richardson was an 18th-century English writer and printer. He is best known for his three epistolary novels: Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded , Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady and The History of Sir Charles Grandison...
- Letters Written to and for Particular Friends (aka "Familiar Letters")
- Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded vols. iii - iv
- JohnJohn WesleyJohn Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
and Charles WesleyCharles WesleyCharles Wesley was an English leader of the Methodist movement, son of Anglican clergyman and poet Samuel Wesley, the younger brother of Anglican clergyman John Wesley and Anglican clergyman Samuel Wesley , and father of musician Samuel Wesley, and grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley...
- A Collection of Psalms and Hymns - Hristofor ZhefarovichHristofor ZhefarovichHristofor Zhefarovich was an 18th-century painter, engraver, writer and poet and a notable proponent of Pan-Slavism.- Biography :Born at the end of the 17th century,...
- Stemmatographia
New drama
- Anonymous - Pamela; or, Virtue Triumphant
- 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....
- The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green (adapted from the anonymous Elizabethan play) - David GarrickDavid GarrickDavid Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
- The Lying Valet - John Kelly - The Levee
- VoltaireVoltaireFrançois-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
- MahometMahomet (play)Mahomet is a five-act tragedy written in 1736 by French playwright and philosopher Voltaire. It received its debut performance in Lille on 25 April 1741....
(first performed)
Poetry
- William ShenstoneWilliam ShenstoneWilliam Shenstone was an English poet and one of the earliest practitioners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate, The Leasowes.-Life:...
- The Judgment of Hercules - 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...
- Poetical Works of the Reverend Edward Young
Non-fiction
- Thomas BettertonThomas BettertonThomas Patrick Betterton , English actor, son of an under-cook to King Charles I, was born in London.-Apprentice and actor:...
- The History of the English Stage, from the Restoration to the Present - Thomas FrancklinThomas Francklin-Life:Francklin was the son of Richard Francklin, bookseller near the Piazza in Covent Garden, London, who printed William Pulteney's paper ‘The Craftsman.’ He was admitted to Westminster School in 1735. On the advice of Pulteney he was educated for the church: but Pulteney gave him no subsequent...
- Of the Nature of the Gods - 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...
- Essays Moral and Political - Jonathan SwiftJonathan SwiftJonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
- Dean Swift's Literary Correspondence (pirate publication by Edmund CurllEdmund 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...
, for which he was sued by Pope) - Some Free Thoughts on the Present State of Affairs
- Dean Swift's Literary Correspondence (pirate publication by Edmund Curll
- Isaac WattsIsaac WattsIsaac Watts was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 750 hymns...
- The Improvement of the Mind - Leonard WelstedLeonard WelstedLeonard Welsted was an English poet and "dunce" in Alexander Pope's writings . Welsted was an accomplished writer who composed in a relaxed, light hearted vein...
- The Summum Bonum - George WhitefieldGeorge WhitefieldGeorge Whitefield , also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican priest who helped spread the Great Awakening in Britain, and especially in the British North American colonies. He was one of the founders of Methodism and of the evangelical movement generally...
- A Letter to the Reverend John Wesley
Births
- January 16 - Hester ThraleHester ThraleHester Lynch Thrale was a British diarist, author, and patron of the arts. Her diaries and correspondence are an important source of information about Samuel Johnson and 18th-century life.-Biography:Thrale was born at Bodvel Hall, Caernarvonshire, Wales...
, friend and correspondent of Samuel JohnsonSamuel JohnsonSamuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
(died 1821) - August 25 - Karl Friedrich BahrdtKarl Friedrich BahrdtKarl Friedrich Bahrdt , German theologian and adventurer, was born at Bischofswerda, Upper Lusatia, where his father, afterwards professor, canon and general superintendent at Leipzig, was pastor....
, theologian (died 1792) - October 4 - Edmond MaloneEdmond MaloneEdmond Malone was an Irish Shakespearean scholar and editor of the works of William Shakespeare.Assured of an income after the death of his father in 1774, Malone was able to give up his law practice for at first political and then more congenial literary pursuits. He went to London, where he...
, Shakespearean editor (died 1812) - October 18 - Pierre Choderlos de LaclosPierre Choderlos de LaclosPierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos was a French novelist, official and army general, best known for writing the epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses ....
, French novelist (died 1803) - October 24 - Johann August von StarckJohann August von StarckJohann August Starck also Stark was a prolific author and controversial Königsberg theologian, as well as a widely-read political writer now best remembered for arguing that an Illuminati-led conspiracy brought about the French revolution. Immanuel Kant and Johann Georg Hamann were among his...
, controversial theologian and political writer (died 1816)
Deaths
- February 21 - Jethro TullJethro Tull (agriculturist)Jethro Tull was an English agricultural pioneer who helped bring about the British Agricultural Revolution. He perfected a horse-drawn seed drill in 1701 that economically sowed the seeds in neat rows, and later a horse-drawn hoe...
, inventor and agricultural writer (born 1674) - March 17 - Jean-Baptiste RousseauJean-Baptiste RousseauJean-Baptiste Rousseau was a French poet.-Biography:Rousseau was born in Paris, the son of a shoemaker, and was well educated. As a young man, he gained favour with Boileau, who encouraged him to write. Rousseau began with the theatre, for which he had no aptitude...
, poet (born 1671) - April 10 - Celia FiennesCelia FiennesCelia Fiennes was an English traveller. Born in Wiltshire, she was the daughter of an English Civil War Parliamentarian Colonel, who was in turn the second son of the William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele. Celia Fiennes died in Hackney in 1741.-Pioneering Female Traveller:Fiennes never married...
, travel writer (born 1662) - December 14 - Charles RollinCharles RollinCharles Rollin was a French historian and educator. He was born in Paris.-Biography:He was the son of a cutler, and at the age of twenty-two was made a master in the Collège du Plessis. In 1694 he was rector of the University of Paris, rendering great service among other things by reviving the...
, historian (born 1661) - December 21 - Bernard de MontfauconBernard de MontfauconBernard de Montfaucon was a French Benedictine monk, a scholar who founded a new discipline, palaeography; an editor of works of the Fathers of the Church; he is also regarded to be one of the founders of modern archaeology.-Early life:Montfaucon was born January 13, 1655 in the castle of...
, antiquary - date unknown - Thomas EmlynThomas EmlynThomas Emlyn , English nonconformist divine.-Life:Emlyn was born at Stamford, Lincolnshire and served as chaplain to the presbyterian Letitia, countess of Donegal, and then to Sir Robert Rich, afterwards becoming colleague to Joseph Boyse, presbyterian minister in Dublin...
, preacher and writer