1753 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1753 in literature involved some significant events and new books.
Events
- The earliest existing diaryDiaryA diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...
by a woman is written in 1753 by Mercy Seccombe, who had emigrated from Harvard, MassachusettsHarvard, MassachusettsHarvard is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. A farming community settled in 1658 and incorporated in 1732, it has been home to several non-traditional communities, such as Harvard Shaker Village and the utopian Transcendentalist center Fruitlands...
to Nova Scotia, Canada; her diary ends there. - The Paper War of 1752-1753Paper War of 1752-1753In 1752, Henry Fielding started a "paper war", a long term dispute with constant publication of pamphlets attacking other writers, between the various authors on London's Grub Street...
comes to a close.
New books
- 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 Lives of the Poets - Jane CollierJane CollierJane Collier was an English novelist most famous for her book An Essay on the Art of Ingeniously Tormenting . She also collaborated with Sarah Fielding on her only other surviving work The Cry ....
- An Essay on the Art of Ingeniously TormentingAn Essay on the Art of Ingeniously TormentingJane Collier's An Essay on the Art of Ingeniously Tormenting , a conduct book, was her first work. The Essay operates as a satirical advice book on how to nag and it was modeled after Jonathan Swift's satirical essays. The work is intended to "teach" a reader the various methods for "teasing and... - William HogarthWilliam HogarthWilliam Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
- The Analysis of Beauty - 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 and Treatises - William Melmoth the younger - The Letters of Marcus Tullius Cicero
- 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...
et al. - The Works of Virgil in Latin and English - Henry St. JohnHenry St John, 1st Viscount BolingbrokeHenry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke was an English politician, government official and political philosopher. He was a leader of the Tories, and supported the Church of England politically despite his atheism. In 1715 he supported the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 which sought to overthrow the...
- A Letter to Sir William Windham - John TolandJohn TolandJohn Toland was a rationalist philosopher and freethinker, and occasional satirist, who wrote numerous books and pamphlets on political philosophy and philosophy of religion, which are early expressions of the philosophy of the Age of Enlightenment...
- Hypatia - 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...
- The Principles of Natural and Revealed Religion - 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...
- Hymns for Social Worship
Fiction
- Sarah FieldingSarah FieldingSarah Fielding was a British author and sister of the novelist Henry Fielding. She was the author of The Governess, or The Little Female Academy , which was the first novel in English written especially for children , and had earlier achieved success with her novel The Adventures of David Simple...
- The Adventures of David Simple, Volume the Last - 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 History of Jemmy and Jenny - Charlotte LennoxCharlotte LennoxCharlotte Lennox was an English author and poet. She is most famous now as the author of The Female Quixote and for her association with Samuel Johnson, Joshua Reynolds, and Samuel Richardson, but she had a long career and wrote poetry, prose, and drama.-Life:Charlotte Lennox was born in Gibraltar...
- Shakespear Illustrated (on Shakespeare'sWilliam 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"...
sources) - 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...
- The History of Sir Charles GrandisonThe History of Sir Charles GrandisonThe History of Sir Charles Grandison, commonly called Sir Charles Grandison, is an epistolary novel by Samuel Richardson first published in February 1753. The book was a response to Henry Fielding's The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, which parodied the morals presented in Richardson's previous... - Tobias SmollettTobias SmollettTobias George Smollett was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for his picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle , which influenced later novelists such as Charles Dickens.-Life:Smollett was born at Dalquhurn, now part of Renton,...
- The Adventures of Ferdinand Count FathomThe Adventures of Ferdinand Count FathomThe Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom is a novel by Tobias Smollett first published in 1753. It was Smollett's third novel and met with less success than his two previous more picaresque tales. The central character is a villainous dandy who cheats, swindles and philanders his way across...
Poetry
- John ArmstrongJohn Armstrong (poet)Dr. John Armstrong was a poet. He was the son of the minister of Castleton, Roxburghshire, Scotland and studied medicine, which he practised in London....
- Taste - Thomas GrayThomas GrayThomas Gray was a poet, letter-writer, classical scholar and professor at Cambridge University.-Early life and education:...
and Richard Bentley the younger - Designs by Mr. R. Bently for Six Poems by Mr. T. Gray - 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...
- An Ode on Benevolence - 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....
- Public Virtue - Thomas FranklinThomas 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...
- Translation - Richard GiffordRichard GiffordRichard Gifford , English poet, was educated at Oxford. He was the author of a poem, Contemplation. He also wrote theological and controversial works.-External links:...
- Contemplation - Henry JonesHenry Jones (poet)-Life:Jones was born at Beaulieu, near Drogheda, co. Louth, in 1721. He was apprenticed to a bricklayer, but contrived to study privately. Some complimentary verses which he addressed to the corporation of Drogheda and some lines 'On Mr. Pope's Death,' attracted the attention of Lord-chief-justice...
- Merit - William KenrickWilliam Kenrick (writer)William Kenrick was an English novelist, playwright, translator and satirist, who spent much of his career libelling and lampooning his fellow writers.- Life and career :Kenrick was born at Watford, Hertfordshire, son of a stay-maker...
- The Whole Duty of Woman - John Ogilvie - The Day of Judgment
- Christopher SmartChristopher SmartChristopher Smart , also known as "Kit Smart", "Kitty Smart", and "Jack Smart", was an English poet. He was a major contributor to two popular magazines and a friend to influential cultural icons like Samuel Johnson and Henry Fielding. Smart, a high church Anglican, was widely known throughout...
- The HilliadThe HilliadThe Hilliad was Christopher Smart's mock epic poem written as a literary attack upon John Hill on 1 February 1753. The title is a play on Alexander Pope's The Dunciad with a substitution of Hill's name, which represents Smart's debt to Pope for the form and style of The Hilliad... - Thomas WartonThomas WartonThomas Warton was an English literary historian, critic, and poet. From 1785 to 1790 he was the Poet Laureate of England...
- The Union
New drama
- Giacomo CasanovaGiacomo CasanovaGiacomo Girolamo Casanova de Seingalt was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, Histoire de ma vie , is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of the customs and norms of European social life during the 18th century...
- La Moluccheide - Kitty CliveKitty CliveCatherine "Kitty" Clive was a British actress of considerable repute on the stages of London.Most likely born in London, her father William Raftor was an Irishman and former officer in the French army under Louis XIV...
- The Rehearsal - Samuel FooteSamuel FooteSamuel Foote was a British dramatist, actor and theatre manager from Cornwall.-Early life:Born into a well-to-do family, Foote was baptized in Truro, Cornwall on 27 January 1720. His father, John Foote, held several public positions, including mayor of Truro, Member of Parliament representing...
- The Englishman in Paris - Richard GloverRichard Glover (Poet)Richard Glover was an English poet and politician.-Life:The son of Richard Glover, a Hamburg merchant, was born in London. He was educated at Cheam in Surrey....
- Boadicea - Carlo GoldoniCarlo GoldoniCarlo Osvaldo Goldoni was an Italian playwright and librettist from the Republic of Venice. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays. Audiences have admired the plays of Goldoni for their ingenious mix of wit and honesty...
- A Servant to Two Masters (Arlecchino servitore di due padroni), comedy, Italian. - Henry JonesHenry Jones (poet)-Life:Jones was born at Beaulieu, near Drogheda, co. Louth, in 1721. He was apprenticed to a bricklayer, but contrived to study privately. Some complimentary verses which he addressed to the corporation of Drogheda and some lines 'On Mr. Pope's Death,' attracted the attention of Lord-chief-justice...
- The Earl of Essex - Edward Moore - The Gamester
- 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...
- The Brothers
Births
- March 8 - William RoscoeWilliam RoscoeWilliam Roscoe , was an English historian and miscellaneous writer.-Life:He was born in Liverpool, where his father, a market gardener, kept a public house called the Bowling Green at Mount Pleasant. Roscoe left school at the age of twelve, having learned all that his schoolmaster could teach...
(died 1831) - June 26 - Antoine de RivarolAntoine de RivarolAntoine de Rivarol was a Royalist French writer during the Revolutionary era.Rivarol was born in Bagnols-sur-Cèze, Gard. It appears that his father, an innkeeper, was a cultivated man...
(died 1801) - date unknown
- Phillis WheatleyPhillis WheatleyPhillis Wheatley was the first African American poet and first African-American woman whose writings were published. Born in Gambia, Senegal, she was sold into slavery at age seven...
(died 1784) - Elizabeth InchbaldElizabeth InchbaldElizabeth Inchbald was an English novelist, actress, and dramatist.- Life :Born on 15 October 1753 at Standingfield, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, Elizabeth was the eighth of the nine children of John Simpson , a farmer, and his wife Mary, née Rushbrook. The family, like several others in the...
- Märta Helena ReenstiernaMärta Helena ReenstiernaMärta Helena Reenstierna , also von Schnell, known as Årstafrun , was a Swedish diary writer. Her diaries were written in the period 1793-1839, and are kept at the archives of Nordiska museet in Stockholm. They were published in 1946-1953 as Årstadagboken...
(died 1841)
- Phillis Wheatley
Deaths
- January 14 - George BerkeleyGeorge BerkeleyGeorge Berkeley , also known as Bishop Berkeley , was an Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immaterialism"...
(born 1685) - May 11 - Jean-Joseph Languet de GergyJean-Joseph Languet de GergyJean-Joseph Languet de Gergy was a French ecclesiastic and theologian. He was first bishop of Soissons, then a member of the Académie française, and finally archbishop of Sens.-Biography:...
, theologian (born 1677)