1823 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1823 in literature involved some significant events and new books.
Events
- Clement Clarke MooreClement Clarke MooreClement Clarke Moore was an American professor of Oriental and Greek literature at Columbia College, now Columbia University. He donated land from his family estate for the foundation of the General Theological Seminary, where he was a professor of Biblical learning and compiled a two-volume...
's poem, A Visit from St. NicholasA Visit from St. Nicholas"A Visit from St. Nicholas", also known as "The Night Before Christmas" and "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously in 1823 and generally attributed to Clement Clarke Moore, although the claim has also been made that it was written by Henry...
introduces the character named "Santa ClausSanta ClausSanta Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
". - The discovery of the First QuartoFolios and Quartos (Shakespeare)The earliest texts of William Shakespeare's works were published during the 16th and 17th centuries in quarto or folio format. Folios are large, tall volumes; quartos are smaller, roughly half the size...
edition of 1603 of 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 HamletHamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
(a so-called "bad quartoBad quartoBad quarto is a term and concept developed by twentieth-century Shakespeare scholars to explain some problems in the early transmission of the texts of Shakespearean works...
") causes great excitement within the scholarly community. - Thomas De QuinceyThomas de QuinceyThomas Penson de Quincey was an English esssayist, best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater .-Child and student:...
's classic essay On the Knocking at the Gate in MacbethOn the Knocking at the Gate in MacbethOn the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth is an essay in Shakespearean criticism by the English author Thomas De Quincey, first published in the October 1823 edition of The London Magazine...
appears in the October issue of The London Magazine.
New books
- James Fenimore CooperJames Fenimore CooperJames Fenimore Cooper was a prolific and popular American writer of the early 19th century. He is best remembered as a novelist who wrote numerous sea-stories and the historical novels known as the Leatherstocking Tales, featuring frontiersman Natty Bumppo...
- The PioneersThe PioneersThe Pioneers: The Sources of the Susquehanna; a Descriptive Tale is a historical novel, the first published of the Leatherstocking Tales, a series of five novels by American writer James Fenimore Cooper... - Claire de DurasClaire de DurasClaire, Duchess of Duras was a French writer best known for her 1823 novel called Ourika, which examines issues of racial and sexual equality, and which inspired the 1969 John Fowles novel The French Lieutenant's Woman.-Biography:Claire de Duras left her native France for London during the French...
- OurikaOurikaOurika is an 1823 novel by Claire de Duras, originally published anonymously.-Overview:The story is based on a few bare bones of historical facts, and was committed to the page by Claire de Duras. She only did so to prevent any possible plagiarism, as she recounted the story — with much... - John Galt - The Entail
- Thomas Gaspey - Monks of Leadenhead
- Sarah Green - The Nieces
- Jane Harvey - Mountalyth
- William HazlittWilliam HazlittWilliam Hazlitt was an English writer, remembered for his humanistic essays and literary criticism, and as a grammarian and philosopher. He is now considered one of the great critics and essayists of the English language, placed in the company of Samuel Johnson and George Orwell. Yet his work is...
- Liber Amoris - Grace KennedyGrace KennedyGrace Kennedy was a Scottish writer. She was born at Pinmore in Ayrshire, but at an early age moved to Edinburgh. She wrote novels of a religious tendency which were very popular in their day. By 1920, they were very little read...
– Father Clement - Caroline Lamb - Ada Reis
- Mary MeekeMary MeekeMary Meeke was a prolific author of around 30 novels published by the Minerva Press during the early 19th century, and is believed to have died in October 1816....
- What Shall Be, Shall Be - John NealJohn Neal-External links:* * * -Selected Works Available online:* * * * * and * and * * *...
– Logan - Quintin Poyney - The Wizard Priest and the Witch
- Sir Walter ScottWalter ScottSir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
- Quentin DurwardQuentin DurwardQuentin Durward is a historical novel by Walter Scott, first published in 1823. The story concerns a Scottish archer in the service of the French King Louis XI .... - Mary ShelleyMary ShelleyMary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
- ValpergaValperga (novel)Valperga: or, the Life and Adventures of Castruccio, Prince of Lucca is an 1823 historical novel by the Romantic novelist Mary Shelley, set amongst the wars of the Guelphs and Ghibellines,... - John WilsonJohn Wilson (Scottish writer)John Wilson of Ellerey FRSE was a Scottish advocate, literary critic and author, the writer most frequently identified with the pseudonym Christopher North of Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine....
- The Trials of Margaret Lyndsay
New drama
- Eugène ScribeEugène ScribeAugustin Eugène Scribe , was a French dramatist and librettist. He is best known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" . This dramatic formula was a mainstay of popular theater for over 100 years.-Biography:...
- Le Menteur Veridique - Eugène ScribeEugène ScribeAugustin Eugène Scribe , was a French dramatist and librettist. He is best known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" . This dramatic formula was a mainstay of popular theater for over 100 years.-Biography:...
- The Heiress (L'Héritière) for the Théâtre du Gymnase - Franz GrillparzerFranz GrillparzerFranz Seraphicus Grillparzer was an Austrian writer who is chiefly known for his dramas. He also wrote the oration for Ludwig van Beethoven's funeral.-Biography:...
- The Fortune and Fall of King Ottokar (König Ottokars Glück und EndeKönig Ottokars Glück und EndeKönig Ottokars Glück und Ende is a tragedy in five acts written by Franz Grillparzer in 1823. Based on the historical events surrounding the life of Ottokar II of Bohemia, the play deals with the fall of the king from the height of his powers to his death, having lost most of his supporters and...
)
Poetry
- Thomas Campbell - The Last Man
- Alphonse de LamartineAlphonse de LamartineAlphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine was a French writer, poet and politician who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic.-Career:...
- Nouvelles méditations poétiques - Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
- Posthumous Poems
Non-fiction
- John FranklinJohn FranklinRear-Admiral Sir John Franklin KCH FRGS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic...
- Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea - Louis Thiers - Histoire de la Révolution française
Births
- January 1 - Sándor PetőfiSándor PetofiSándor Petőfi , was a Hungarian poet and liberal revolutionary. He is considered as Hungary's national poet and he was one of the key figures of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848...
, poet (d. 1849) - February 27 - Ernest RenanErnest RenanErnest Renan was a French expert of Middle East ancient languages and civilizations, philosopher and writer, devoted to his native province of Brittany...
, French philosopher and writer (d. 1892) - March 20 - Ned BuntlineNed BuntlineNed Buntline , was a pseudonym of Edward Zane Carroll Judson , an American publisher, journalist, writer and publicist best known for his dime novels and the Colt Buntline Special he is alleged to have commissioned from Colt's Manufacturing Company.-Naval and military experience:Edward Judson was...
, publisher, writer, (d. 1886) - August 13 - Goldwin SmithGoldwin SmithGoldwin Smith was a British-Canadian historian and journalist.- Early years :He was born at Reading, Berkshire. He was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford, and after a brilliant undergraduate career he was elected to a fellowship at University College, Oxford...
, historian and journalist (d. 1910) - October 6 - George Henry BokerGeorge Henry BokerGeorge Henry Boker was an American poet, playwright, and diplomat.-Youth:Boker was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father was Charles S...
, poet and playwright (d. 1890)
Deaths
- February 7 - Ann RadcliffeAnn RadcliffeAnne Radcliffe was an English author, and considered the pioneer of the gothic novel . Her style is romantic in its vivid descriptions of landscapes, and long travel scenes, yet the Gothic element is obvious through her use of the supernatural...
, novelist (born 1764) - February 21 - Charles WolfeCharles Wolfe (poet)Charles Wolfe was an Irish poet, chiefly remembered for his "exquisite elegy", The Burial of Sir John Moore after Corunna-Family:...
, poet (born 1791) - April 10 - Karl Leonhard ReinholdKarl Leonhard ReinholdKarl Leonhard Reinhold was an Austrian philosopher. He was the father of Ernst Reinhold, also a philosopher.-Life:...
, philosopher (born 1757) - August 19 - Robert BloomfieldRobert BloomfieldRobert Bloomfield was an English labouring class poet whose work is appreciated in the context of other self-educated writers such as Stephen Duck, Mary Collier and John Clare.-Life:...
, poet (born 1766) - August 20 - Friedrich Arnold BrockhausFriedrich Arnold BrockhausFriedrich Arnold Brockhaus was a German encyclopedia publisher and editor, famed for publishing the Conversations-Lexikon, which is now published as the Brockhaus encyclopedia.-Biography:...
, encyclopedia publisher and editor (born 1772) - September 11 - David RicardoDavid RicardoDavid Ricardo was an English political economist, often credited with systematising economics, and was one of the most influential of the classical economists, along with Thomas Malthus, Adam Smith, and John Stuart Mill. He was also a member of Parliament, businessman, financier and speculator,...
, political economist (born 1772) - November 9 - Vasily KapnistVasily KapnistCount Vasily Vasilievich Kapnist , , was a Russian poet and playwright who wrote in somewhat rough Russian language....
, poet and dramatist (b. 1758)