1808 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1808 in literature involved some significant events and new books.
Events
- Opening of the Théâtre St. Philippe, New Orleans.
- The first Royal Opera HouseRoyal Opera HouseThe Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
at Covent GardenCovent GardenCovent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, established in 1732, is destroyed by fire. Rebuilding begins in December.
New books
- Sophia Bouverie
- Lord Hubert of Arundel
- St. Justin
- James Norris BrewerJames Norris BrewerJames Norris Brewer , was an English topographer and novelist.Brewer was the eldest son of a merchant of London. He wrote many romances and topographical compilations, the best of the latter being his contributions to the series called the 'Beauties of England and Wales.' All the former are now...
- Mountville Castle - Stéphanie Félicité, Comtesse de GenlisStéphanie Félicité Ducrest de St-Albin, comtesse de GenlisMadame de Genlis, full name Stéphanie Félicité Ducrest de St-Aubin, comtesse de Genlis, or Madame Brûlart, was a French writer, harpist and educator.-Biography:...
-The Earl of Cork - Sarah GreenSarah Green (novelist)Sarah Green was an Irish-English novelist and writer.Green was apparently born in Ireland, though moved to London. She may have authored Charles Henly, or, The Fugitive Restored , but the first fictional work which can definitely be attributed to her is Court Intrigue, or, The Victim of Constancy...
- Tankerville Family - Elizabeth HamiltonElizabeth HamiltonElizabeth Hamilton was a British essayist, poet, satirist and novelist. Born in Belfast to Charles Hamilton , a Scottish merchant, and his wife Katherine Mackay , she lived most of her life in Scotland, dying in Harrogate in England after a short illness.Her first literary efforts were directed in...
- The Cottagers of Glenburnie - Anthony Frederick Holstein – Sir Owen Glendowr
- Heinrich von KleistHeinrich von KleistBernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist was a poet, dramatist, novelist and short story writer. The Kleist Prize, a prestigious prize for German literature, is named after him.- Life :...
- The Marquise of O (novellaNovellaA novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
) - Francis LathomFrancis LathomFrancis Lathom was a British gothic novelist and playwright.-Biography:Francis Lathom was born on the 14 July of 1774, either in Rotterdam, Holland, where his father, Henry, conducted business for the East India Company and returning to England around 1777, settling near Norwich, or he was born in...
- The Northern Gallery - Caroline Maxwell – Alfred of Normandy
- Charles MaturinCharles MaturinCharles Robert Maturin, also known as C.R. Maturin was an Irish Protestant clergyman and a writer of gothic plays and novels.-Biography:...
- The Wild Irish Boy - Henrietta Rouviere Mosse - The Old Irish Baronet
- Henrietta Sykes – Margiana
- Elizabeth ThomasElizabeth Thomas (Poet/novelist)Elizabeth Thomas [née Wolferstan] , novelist and poet, is an ambiguous figure. Details of her early life are missing, and her authorship of some works attributed to her is contested....
- The Husband and Wife - Anne Trelawney
- Characters at Brighton
- Offspring of Mortimer
- R. P. M. Yorke - Valley of Collares
- Mary Julia Young - The Star of Fashion
New drama
- Johann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
- Faust, Part 1 - Heinrich von KleistHeinrich von KleistBernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist was a poet, dramatist, novelist and short story writer. The Kleist Prize, a prestigious prize for German literature, is named after him.- Life :...
- PenthesileaPenthesilea (Kleist)Penthesilea is a tragedy by the German playwright Heinrich von Kleist. The play, about the mythological Amazonian queen, Penthesilea, is an exploration of sexual frenzy. Goethe rejected the play as "unplayable".-Plot summary:...
- The Broken JugThe Broken JugThe Broken Jug is a comedy written by the German playwright Heinrich von Kleist. Kleist first conceived the idea for the play in 1801, upon looking at a copper engraving in Heinrich Zschokke's house entitled "Le juge, ou la cruche cassée." In 1803, challenged over his ability to write comedy,...
- Penthesilea
- Adam Gottlob OehlenschlägerAdam Gottlob OehlenschlägerAdam Gottlob Oehlenschläger was a Danish poet and playwright. He introduced romanticism into Danish literature.-Biography:He was born in Vesterbro, then a suburb of Copenhagen, on 14 November 1779...
- Hakon Jarl
Non-fiction
- Charles FourierCharles FourierFrançois Marie Charles Fourier was a French philosopher. An influential thinker, some of Fourier's social and moral views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have become main currents in modern society...
- The Theory of the Four Movements - J. F. Fries - Neue oder anthropologische Kritik der Vernunft (New Critique of Reason)
- Karl Wilhelm Friedrich von SchlegelKarl Wilhelm Friedrich von SchlegelKarl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel was a German poet, critic and scholar. With his older brother, August Wilhelm Schlegel, he was a critical leader of German Romanticism.-Life and work:...
- Über die Sprache und Weisheit der Indier
Births
- January 27 - David StraussDavid StraussDavid Friedrich Strauss was a German theologian and writer. He scandalized Christian Europe with his portrayal of the "historical Jesus," whose divine nature he denied...
, German theologian and writer - February 5 - Carl SpitzwegCarl SpitzwegCarl Spitzweg was a German romanticist painter and poet. He is considered to be one of the most important artists of the Biedermeier era....
, German poet - February 16 - Gustave Planche, French critic
- May 22 - Gérard de NervalGérard de NervalGérard de Nerval was the nom-de-plume of the French poet, essayist and translator Gérard Labrunie, one of the most essentially Romantic French poets.- Biography :...
, French poet and translator - June 17 - Henrik WergelandHenrik WergelandHenrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist...
, Norwegian poet - June 28 - James SpeddingJames SpeddingJames Spedding was an English author, chiefly known as the editor of the works of Francis Bacon.-Life:He was born in Cumberland, the younger son of a country squire, and was educated at Bury St Edmunds and Trinity College, Cambridge; where he took a second class in the classical tripos, and was...
, English author and editor - November 2 - Jules Amédée Barbey d'AurevillyJules Amédée Barbey d'AurevillyJules-Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly was a French novelist and short story writer. He specialised in mystery tales that explored hidden motivation and hinted at evil without being explicitly concerned with anything supernatural...
, French novelist - Solomon NorthupSolomon NorthupSolomon Northup was a free-born African-American mulatto. He was born in Minerva, Essex County, New York. He disappeared in 1863.-Family history:...
, American memoirist - Vendela HebbeVendela HebbeWendela Hebbe, née Åström, , Swedish journalist, publicist and author, is regarded as having been the first professional female journalist in Sweden.- Biography :...
, Swedish playwright, journalist and novelist
Deaths
- September 5 - John HomeJohn HomeJohn Home was a Scottish poet and dramatist.-Biography:He was born at Leith, near Edinburgh, where his father, Alexander Home, a distant relation of the earls of Home, was town clerk. John was educated at the Leith Grammar School, and at the University of Edinburgh, where he graduated MA, in 1742...
, Scottish poet - September 13 - Saverio BettinelliSaverio BettinelliSaverio Bettinelli was an Italian Jesuit writer.He was born at Mantua. After studying under the Jesuits at Mantua and Bologna, he entered the society in 1736. He taught belles-lettres from 1739 to 1744 at Brescia, where Cardinal Quirini, Count Mazzuchelli, Count Duranti and other scholars, formed...
, Italian man of letters - Melchiore CesarottiMelchiore CesarottiMelchiore Cesarotti was an Italian poet and translator.-Biography:He was born at Padua, of a noble but impoverished family. At the University of Padua his literary progress gained him the chair of rhetoric, and in 1768 the professorship of Greek and Hebrew...
, Italian poet