1786 in literature
Encyclopedia
Events
- January 19 - Franziska StadingFranziska StadingSofia "Franziska" Stading was a opera singer and actor; originally from Germany, she became one of the most popular stars in Sweden in the 18th century...
plays the female lead in Gustav Vasa at the Royal Swedish Opera. - The Story of the Learned Pig, a satire based on the idea that the learned pigLearned pigThe learned pig was a pig taught to respond to commands in such a way that it appeared to be able to answer questions by picking up cards in its mouth. By choosing cards it answered arithmetical problems and spelled out words. The "learned pig" caused a sensation in London during the 1780s...
was the reincarnation of Romulus, Brutus, the Duke of Marborough and wrote William 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 plays.
New books
- William Thomas BeckfordWilliam Thomas BeckfordWilliam Thomas Beckford , usually known as William Beckford, was an English novelist, a profligate and consummately knowledgeable art collector and patron of works of decorative art, a critic, travel writer and sometime politician, reputed to be the richest commoner in England...
- VathekVathekVathek is a Gothic novel written by William Beckford... - 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....
- Dorado, a Spanish Tale (published anonymously) - The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchhausen, translated from the GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
by G. A. Bürger - Harriet LeeHarriet LeeHarriet Lee was a novelist and playwright.Born the daughter of actor John Lee, Harriet Lee grew up in an artistic family. In 1786 she published The Errors of Innocence, an epistolary novel...
- The Errors of Innocence - Sarah TrimmerSarah TrimmerSarah Trimmer was a noted writer and critic of British children's literature in the eighteenth century...
- Fabulous HistoriesFabulous HistoriesFabulous Histories , is the best-known work of Sarah Trimmer. Originally published in 1786, it remained in print until the beginning of the twentieth century.-Plot:...
New drama
- Tituš BrezovačkiTituš BrezovackiTituš Brezovački was a Croatian writer.Brezovački, as the great comedian of the period, wrote all of his dramatic works in Kajkavian dialect...
- Sveti Aleksij - John BurgoyneJohn BurgoyneGeneral John Burgoyne was a British army officer, politician and dramatist. He first saw action during the Seven Years' War when he participated in several battles, mostly notably during the Portugal Campaign of 1762....
- The HeiressThe Heiress (1786 play)The Heiress is a comedy play by the British playwright and soldier John Burgoyne. The play debuted at the Drury Lane Theatre on 14 January 1786. It concerns the engagement of Lord Gayville to Miss Alscrip a fashionable woman he believes to be an heiress. Gayville later discovers that the woman who... - 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...
- Iphigenia in Tauris (verse version) - 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...
– The Widow’s Vow - John O'Keeffe - Love in a CampLove in a CampLove in a Camp is a 1786 British play by John O'Keeffe. It was a sequel to the hit 1783 play The Poor Soldier with the characters now serving in the Prussian army.-Bibliography:...
New poetry
- Robert BurnsRobert BurnsRobert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
- Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect
Births
- February 3 - Wilhelm GeseniusWilhelm GeseniusHeinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Gesenius was a German orientalist and Biblical critic.-Biography:He was born at Nordhausen...
, philologist and theologian (d. 1842 - February 24 - Wilhelm GrimmWilhelm GrimmWilhelm Carl Grimm was a German author, the younger of the Brothers Grimm.-Life and work:...
, German philologist and folklorist (d. 1859) - May 12 - Jean-François BarrièreJean-François BarrièreJean-François Barrière was a French historian. He wrote about the French revolution, most notably an annotated biography of Madame Roland entitled Memoirs de Madame Roland, Avec une Notice sur sa Vie, des Notes et des Eclaircissemens historiques par MM...
, historian (d. 1868) - June 20 - Marceline Desbordes-ValmoreMarceline Desbordes-ValmoreMarceline Desbordes-Valmore was a French poet.She was born in Douai. Following the French Revolution, her family emigrated to Guadeloupe. In 1817 she married her second husband, the actor Prosper Lanchantin-Valmore....
, poet (d. 1859) - August 25 - James Silk BuckinghamJames Silk BuckinghamJames Silk Buckingham was an English author, journalist and traveller.He was born at Flushing near Falmouth, the son of a farmer, and had a limited education. His youth was spent at sea, and in 1797 he was captured by the French and held as a prisoner of war at Corunna...
, journalist and travel writer (d. 1855) - October 23 - Barron FieldBarron Field (author)Barron Field was an English-born Australian judge and poet.-Early life:Field was the second son of Henry Field, a London surgeon and apothecary, and Esther, née Barron. Barron Field was educated as a barrister and was called to the Inner Temple on 25 June 1814...
, poet (d. 1846)
Deaths
- January 19 - John DuncombeJohn Duncombe (writer)John Duncombe was an English clergyman and writer, son of William Duncombe.He studied at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he became a fellow. He married the poet Susanna Highmore...
, poet and journalist (b. 1729) - March 11 - Jacobus BellamyJacobus BellamyJacob Bellamy was a Dutch poet.He was the son of a Swiss baker.- Works :* Gezangen mijner jeugd...
, poet (b. 1757) - May 4 - Johann Kaspar FüssliJohann Kaspar FüssliJohann Kaspar Füssli, also written Johann Caspar Fuesslins, was a Swiss painter, entomologist and publisher....
, artist, scientist and publisher (b. 1743) - August 15 - Thomas TyrwhittThomas TyrwhittThomas Tyrwhitt was an English classical scholar and critic.-Life:He was born in London, where he also died. He was educated at Eton and Queen's College, Oxford . In 1756 he was appointed under-secretary at war, in 1762 clerk of the House of Commons...
, critic (b. 1730) - December 26 - Gasparo GozziGasparo GozziGasparo, count Gozzi was an Italian critic and dramatist.The brother of Carlo Gozzi, he was born in Venice. In 1739, he married the poet Luise Bergalli, and she undertook the management of the theatre of Sant'Angelo, Venice. Her husband supplied the performers with dramas chiefly translated from...
, dramatist and critic (b. 1713) - date unknown
- Jan Tomáš KuzníkJan Tomáš KuzníkJan Tomáš Kuzník was a Czech teacher of music, musician, composer and poet, acting in Haná region of Moravia.Kuzník was born near Kojetín. During 1739–1764 he worked in Napajedla as a music teacher and organist. Most of his works comes from this period...
, musician and poet (b. 1716) - Thomas ThistlewoodThomas ThistlewoodThomas Thistlewood was a British landowner and estate overseer who migrated to western Jamaica. He is remembered for his diary, which became an important historical document on slavery and history of Jamaica.-Biography:Thomas Thistlewood was born in United Kingdom and lived in Lincolnshire, England...
, diarist (b. 1721)
- Jan Tomáš Kuzník