1740 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1740 in literature involved some significant events and new books.
Events
- John ClelandJohn ClelandJohn Cleland was an English novelist most famous and infamous as the author of Fanny Hill: or, the Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure....
returns to Britain from government service in India. - Accession of Frederick the Great in Prussia.
- Beginning of the War of the Austrian SuccessionWar of the Austrian SuccessionThe War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
.
New books
- Johann Jakob BodmerJohann Jakob BodmerJohann Jakob Bodmer was a Swiss-German author, academic, critic and poet.-Life:Born at Greifensee, near Zürich, and first studying theology and then trying a commercial career, he finally found his vocation in letters...
- Von dem Wunderbaren in der Poesie - 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...
- An Apology for the Life of Mr Colley Cibber, Comedian (begins a storm of protest) - John DyerJohn DyerJohn Dyer was a painter and Welsh poet turned clergyman of the Church of England who maintained an interest in his Welsh ancestry...
- The Ruins of Rome - Richard Glover - Admiral Hosier's Ghost
- 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...
- An Abstract of . . . A Treatise of Human Nature - 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...
- An Earnest and Serious Answer to Dr. Trapp's Discourse- - An Appeal to all that Doubt, or Disbelieve the Truths of the Gospel
- 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...
- The Life of Sir Walter Raleigh - 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...
- The Aeneid of Virgil - William Pulteney - An Epistle from L--- to Lord C-------d (supposedly from Thomas CokeThomas CokeThomas Coke *Thomas Coke of Melbourne Hall, Derbyshire, created Privy Counsellor]in 1708*Thomas Coke , early Methodist*Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester...
to Lord Chesterfield) - 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...
- Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded - Henry St. John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke - The Idea of a Patriot King (published after the intervention or interference of 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...
) - William StukeleyWilliam StukeleyWilliam Stukeley FRS, FRCP, FSA was an English antiquarian who pioneered the archaeological investigation of the prehistoric monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury, work for which he has been remembered as "probably... the most important of the early forerunners of the discipline of archaeology"...
- StonehengeStonehengeStonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Amesbury and north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks...
: A temple restor'd to the British Druids - Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de VilleneuveGabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de VilleneuveGabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, French author , influenced by Madame d'Aulnoy, Charles Perrault, and various précieuse writers....
-La jeune américaine, et les contes marins - William WarburtonWilliam WarburtonWilliam Warburton was an English critic and churchman, Bishop of Gloucester from 1759.-Life:He was born at Newark, where his father, who belonged to an old Cheshire family, was town clerk. William was educated at Oakham and Newark grammar schools, and in 1714 he was articled to Mr Kirke, an...
- A Vindication of Mr. Pope's Essay on Man - 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 Short Account of God's Dealings with the Reverend George Whitefield
Newly published drama
- 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...
- Britannia and Batavia- - Elmerick
- James Thomson and 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...
- Alfred
Births
- June 2 - Marquis de SadeMarquis de SadeDonatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat, revolutionary politician, philosopher, and writer famous for his libertine sexuality and lifestyle...
(died 1814) - June 6 - Louis-Sébastien MercierLouis-Sébastien MercierLouis-Sébastien Mercier was a French dramatist and writer.-Early life and education:He was born in Paris to a humble family: his father was a skilled artisan who polished swords and metal arms. Mercier nevertheless received a decent education.-Literary career:Mercier began his literary career by...
, dramatist (died 1814) - September 2 - Johann Georg JacobiJohann Georg JacobiJohann Georg Jacobi was a German poet.The elder brother of the philosopher Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, Johann Georg was born at Pempelfort near Düsseldorf. He studied theology at Göttingen and jurisprudence at Helmstedt, and was appointed, in 1766, professor of philosophy in Halle. In this year he...
, poet (died 1814) - September 12 - Johann Heinrich JungJohann Heinrich JungJohann Heinrich Jung , best known by his assumed name of Heinrich Stilling, was a German author.-Life:He was born in the village of Grund in Westphalia...
(Heinrich Stilling), novelist (died 1817) - October 29 - James BoswellJames BoswellJames Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland; he is best known for the biography he wrote of one of his contemporaries, the English literary figure Samuel Johnson....
(died 1795) - November 4 - Augustus Montague TopladyAugustus Montague TopladyAugustus Montague Toplady was an Anglican cleric and hymn writer. He was a major Calvinist opponent of John Wesley. He is best remembered as the author of the hymn "Rock of Ages"...
, poet, theologian and hymn-writer (died 1778) - date unknown
- Giovanni Cristofano AmaduzziGiovanni Cristofano AmaduzziGiovanni Cristofano Amaduzzi was a distinguished Italian philologist who flourished during the latter half of the eighteenth century....
, philologist (died 1782) - Juan AndrésJuan AndrésJuan Andrés was a Spanish jesuit and writer....
, historian (died 1817) - Jean Louis DelolmeJean Louis DelolmeJean Louis Delolme was a Swiss jurist and constitutional writer.He was born at Geneva in 1740. He studied for the bar, and had begun to practise when he was obliged to emigrate on account of a pamphlet entitled Examen de trois parts de droit, which gave offence to the authorities of the town...
, constitutional writer (died 1806) - Charlotte Brooke
- Charlotte BadenCharlotte BadenCharlotte Baden was a Danish writer, feminist and letter-writer.Daughter of major Gustav Ludvig von Klenau and Bolette Cathrine From...
, Danish writer
- Giovanni Cristofano Amaduzzi
Deaths
- January - John AdamsJohn Adams (poet)John Adams was an American poet.-Biography:Adams was the only son of Hon. John Adams of Nova Scotia, and he graduated from Harvard University in 1721. He joined the ministry of the Congregational Church at Newport, Rhode Island, on April 11, 1728, in opposition to the wishes of Mr. Clap, who was...
, poet (born 1704) - April 23 - Thomas TickellThomas TickellThomas Tickell was a minor English poet and man of letters.-Life:The son of a clergyman, he was born at Bridekirk near Cockermouth, Cumberland. He was educated at St Bees School 1695-1701, and in 1701 entered the Queen's College, Oxford, taking his M.A. degree in 1709...
, poet (born 1685) - May 15 - 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:...
, encyclopaedist (born about 1680) - June 1 - Samuel WerenfelsSamuel WerenfelsSamuel Werenfels was a Swiss theologian. Werenfels was born at Basel and died there.After finishing his theological and philosophical studies at Basel, he visited the universities at Zurich, Bern, Lausanne, and Geneva. On his return he held, for a short time, the professorship of logic, and in...
, theologian (born 1657) - October 5 - Johann Philipp Baratier, scholar (born 1721)
- date unknown
- Johann Georg AbichtJohann Georg AbichtJohann Georg Abicht was a German Lutheran theologian from Königsee, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.After finishing his studies at the universities of Jena and...
, theologian (born 1672) - Daniel WaterlandDaniel WaterlandDaniel Cosgrove Waterland was an English theologian.Daniel Waterland was born at Walesby Rectory, Lincolnshire, England, and educated in Lincoln and at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in 1703 and MA in 1706...
, theologian (born 1683) - Jane Bereton, poet
- Johann Georg Abicht