This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1761.

Events

*August – Following the death of

Johann Matthias Gesner Johann Matthias Gesner (9 April 1691 – 3 August 1761) was a German classical scholar and schoolmaster. Life He was born at Roth an der Rednitz near Ansbach. His father, Johann Samuel Gesner, a pastor in Auhausen, died in 1704, leaving the fam ...

, the chair of rhetoric at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

is refused by both

Johann August Ernesti Johann August Ernesti (; ; 4 August 1707 – 11 September 1781) was a German Rationalist Lutheran theologian and philology, philologist. Ernesti was the first who formally separated the hermeneutics of the Old Testament from those of the New Test ...

and

David Ruhnken David Ruhnken (2 January 172314 May 1798) was a Dutch classical scholar of German origin. Origins Ruhnken was born in Bedlin (today Bydlino) near Stolp, Pomerania Province, (today Słupsk, Poland). After he had attended Latin school at Köni ...

. It eventually goes to

Christian Gottlob Heyne Christian Gottlob Heyne (; 25 September 1729 – 14 July 1812) was a German classical scholar and archaeologist as well as long-time director of the Göttingen State and University Library. He was a member of the Göttingen school of history. ...

. *September –

Carlo Goldoni Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni (, also , ; 25 February 1707 – 6 February 1793) 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 ...

informs fellow playwright

Francesco Albergati Capacelli Francesco Albergati Capacelli (19 April 1728 – 16 March 1804) was an Italian writer and playwright. Albergati was born in Bologna, where he was a marquess and senator and an important administrator. He led a stormy personal life and was ma ...

that he is moving permanently from Venice to Paris, where he is appointed director of the Italian theatre. *''unknown date'' –

Denis Diderot Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a prominent figure during th ...

begins writing ''

Rameau's Nephew ''Rameau's Nephew, or the Second Satire'' (or The Nephew of Rameau, ) is an imaginary philosophical conversation by Denis Diderot, probably written between 1761 and 1774. It was first published in 1805 in German translation by Goethe, but the F ...

New books

Fiction

* John Hawkesworth – '' Almoran and Hamet'' * William Kenrick – ''Eloisa'' * Thomas Percy (translated) – ''Hau Kou Choan'' *

James Ridley James Kenneth Ridley (1736–1765) was an English author educated at University College, Oxford. He served as a chaplain with the British Army. He is best known for a volume of imitation Orientalia. Writings Ridley wrote two novels: ''The Histo ...

(as Sir Charles Morrell) – ''The History of James Lovegrove'' *

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...

– '' Julie, ou la nouvelle Héloïse'' *

Frances Sheridan Frances Sheridan (''née'' Chamberlaine; 1724 – 26 September 1766) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and playwright. Life Frances Chamberlaine was born in Dublin, Ireland. Her father, Dr. Phillip Chamberlaine, was an Anglican minister. In 1747 s ...

– ''

Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph ''Memoirs of Miss Sidney Bidulph'' is a 1761 novel by the Irish writer Frances Sheridan, published in three volumes.. A sentimental novel, it was strongly influenced by Samuel Richardson's 1748 novel '' Clarissa''. Sheridan became acquainted with ...

'' *

Laurence Sterne Laurence Sterne (24 November 1713 – 18 March 1768) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and Anglican cleric. He is best known for his comic novels ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' (1759–1767) and ''A Sentimental Journey Thro ...

– ''

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'', also known as ''Tristram Shandy'', is a humorous novel by Laurence Sterne. It was published in nine volumes, the first two appearing in 1759, and seven others following over the next sev ...

'' vols. iii – iv.

Drama

Isaac Bickerstaffe Isaac Bickerstaffe or Bickerstaff (26 September 1733 – after 1808) was an Irish playwright and librettist. Early life Isaac John Bickerstaff was born in Dublin, on 26 September 1733, where his father John Bickerstaff held a government pos ...

– ''

Judith The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...

'' * Henry Brooke – ''The Earl of Essex'' (adapted) *

George Colman the Elder George Colman (April 1732 – 14 August 1794) was an English dramatist and essayist, usually called "the Elder", and sometimes "George the First", to distinguish him from his son, George Colman the Younger. He also owned a theatre. Early life H ...

– ''

The Jealous Wife ''The Jealous Wife'' is a 1761 British play by George Colman the Elder. A comedy, it was first performed at the Drury Lane Theatre on 12 February 1761 and ran for 19 performances in its first season and 70 by the end of the century. It was trans ...

'' *

Richard Cumberland Richard Cumberland may refer to: * Richard Cumberland (philosopher) Richard Cumberland (15 July 1631 (or 1632) – 9 October 1718) was an English philosopher, and Bishop of Peterborough from 1691. In 1672, he published his major work, ''De leg ...

– '' The Banishment of Cicero'' * Richard Glover – ''Medea'' *

**''Una delle ultime sere di Carnevale'' **'' La villeggiatura'' (or ''La trilogia della villeggiatura'', The Resort) *

Carlo Gozzi __NOTOC__ Carlo, Count Gozzi (; 13 December 1720 – 4 April 1806) was an Italian ( Venetian) playwright and champion of ''Commedia dell'arte''. Early life Gozzi was born and died in Venice; he came from a family of minor Venetian aristocracy, t ...

**''L'amore delle tre melarance'' (The Love for Three Oranges) **''Il corvo'' (The Raven) * Arthur Murphy **''

All in the Wrong ''All in the Wrong'' is a 1761 comedy play by the Irish writer Arthur Murphy. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London, the under the management of David Garrick, on 15 June 1761.Nicoll p.290 The original cast included Richard Yat ...

'' **'' The Citizen'' **''The Old Maid''

Poetry

* John Armstrong – ''A Day: An epistle to

John Wilkes John Wilkes (17 October 1725 – 26 December 1797) was an English Radicalism (historical), radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlese ...

'' * Charles Churchill **''The Apology'' **''Night: An epistle to Robert Lloyd'' **''The Rosciad'' *

John Cleland John Cleland (24 September 1709 – 23 January 1789) was an English novelist best known for his fictional '' Fanny Hill: or, the Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure'', whose eroticism led to his arrest. James Boswell called him "a sly, old malcont ...

– ''The Times!'', vol. 2 *

Francis Fawkes Francis Fawkes (1720–1777) was an English poet and translator. He translated works by Anacreon (poet), Anacreon, Sappho and other classical authors, modernised parts of the poems of Gavin Douglas, and was the author of the well-known song, ''Th ...

– ''Original Poems and Translations'' * Robert Lloyd – ''An Epistle to Charles Churchill'' *

James Macpherson James Macpherson ( Gaelic: ''Seumas MacMhuirich'' or ''Seumas Mac a' Phearsain''; 27 October 1736 – 17 February 1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector, and politician. He is known for the Ossian cycle of epic poems, which he ...

, "translator" – ''Fingal, an Ancient Epic Poem in Six Books, together with Several Other Poems composed by Ossian, the Son of Fingal, translated from the Gaelic Language'' *

Diego de Torres Villarroel Diego de Torres Villarroel (169319 June 1770) was a Spanish writer, poet, dramatist, doctor, mathematician, priest and professor of the University of Salamanca. His most famous work is his autobiography, ''Vida, ascendencia, nacimiento, crianza y ...

– ''Poesías sagradas y profanas''

Non-fiction

Thomas Cole Thomas Cole (February 1, 1801 – February 11, 1848) was an English-born American artist and the founder of the Hudson River School art movement. Cole is widely regarded as the first significant American landscape painter. He was known for hi ...

– ''Discourses on Luxury, Infidelity, and Enthusiasm'' *

– ''Critical Reflections on the Old English Dramatick Writers'' *

Robert Dodsley Robert Dodsley (13 February 1703 – 23 September 1764) was an English bookseller, publisher, poet, playwright, and miscellaneous writer. Life Dodsley was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school. H ...

– ''Select Fables of Esop and Other Fabulists'' (anthology) *

Enrique Flórez Enrique or Henrique Flórez de Setién y Huidobro (July 21, 1702August 20, 1773) was a Spanish historian. Biography Flórez was born in Villadiego. At 15 years old, he entered the order of St Augustine. He subsequently became professor of theol ...

– ''Memorias de las reinas católicas'' *

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English essayist, historian, and politician. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, is known for ...

– ''Essai sur l’Étude de la Littérature'' *

Baron d'Holbach Paul Thiry, Baron d'Holbach (; ; 8 December 1723 – 21 January 1789), known as d'Holbach, was a Franco-German philosopher, encyclopedist and writer, who was a prominent figure in the French Enlightenment. He was born in Edesheim, near Landau ...

– ''Christianity unveiled'' * Henry Home – ''Introduction to the Art of Thinking'' *

David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; – 25 August 1776) was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist who was best known for his highly influential system of empiricism, philosophical scepticism and metaphysical naturalism. Beg ...

– ''The History of England, from the Invasion of Julius Caesar to the Accession of Henry VII'' *

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, Unitarian, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, English Separatist, separatist theologian, Linguist, grammarian, multi-subject educator and Classical libera ...

– ''The Rudiments of English Grammar'' * Tiphaigne de la Roche – ''L'Empire des Zaziris sur les humains ou la Zazirocratie'' *

Martín Sarmiento Martín Sarmiento or Martiño Sarmiento, also Father Sarmiento (born Pedro José García Balboa; 9 March 1695 in Villafranca del Bierzo, El Bierzo – 7 December 1772 in Madrid) was a Spanish scholar, writer and Benedictine monk, illustrious repr ...

– ''Noticia sobre la verdadera patria de Cervantes'' * Benjamin Victor – ''History of the Theatres of London and Dublin'' vol. 1–2

Births

March 8 Events Pre-1600 * 1010 – Ferdowsi completes his epic poem '' Shahnameh''. * 1126 – Following the death of his mother, queen Urraca of León, Alfonso VII is proclaimed king of León. * 1262 – Battle of Hausbergen between ...

–

Jan Potocki Count Jan Potocki (; 8 March 1761 – 23 December 1815) was a Polish nobleman, ethnologist, linguist, traveller and author of the Enlightenment period, whose life and exploits made him a celebrated figure in Poland. He is known chiefly for his ...

, Polish count, military engineer, ethnologist, Egyptologist, linguist, aeronaut, adventurer and novelist (suicide

1815 Events January * January 2 – Lord Byron marries Anna Isabella Milbanke in Seaham, county of Durham, England. * January 3 – Austria, Britain, and Bourbon-restored France form a secret defensive alliance treaty against Pr ...

) *

May 3 Events Pre-1600 * 752 – Mayan king Bird Jaguar IV of Yaxchilan in modern-day Chiapas, Mexico, assumes the throne. * 1481 – The largest of three earthquakes strikes the island of Rhodes and causes an estimated 30,000 casualties ...

–

August von Kotzebue August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (, ; – ) was a German playwright, who had also worked as a Russian diplomat. In 1817, one of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl Ludwig Sand, a ...

, German dramatist (died

1819 Events January–March * January 2 – The Panic of 1819, the first major peacetime financial crisis in the United States, begins. * January 25 – Thomas Jefferson founds the University of Virginia. * January 29 – Si ...

) *

July 25 Events Pre-1600 * 306 – Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops. * 315 – The Arch of Constantine is completed near the Colosseum in Rome to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridg ...

– Charlotte von Kalb, German writer (died

1843 Events January–March * January 3 – The '' Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms'' (海國圖志, ''Hǎiguó Túzhì'') compiled by Wei Yuan and others, the first significant Chinese work on the West, is published in China. * J ...

) *

September 8 Events Pre-1600 * 70 – After the capture of Herod's Palace the previous day, a Roman army under Titus secures and plunders the city of Jerusalem. * 617 – Battle of Huoyi: Li Yuan defeats a Sui dynasty army, opening the path ...

–

François Juste Marie Raynouard François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * François-Marie Arouet (better known as Voltaire; ...

, French dramatist (died

1836 Events January–March * January 1 — Hill Street Academy is named Colombo Academy and acquired by the Government, establishing the first public school in Sri Lanka. * January 1 – Queen Maria II of Portugal marries Prince Ferdinand ...

) *

September 13 Events Pre-1600 *585 BC – Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victories over the Sabines, and the surrender of Collatia. *509 BC – The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Rome's Capitoline Hill ...

–

Santō Kyōden was a Japanese people, Japanese Poet, artist, writer, and the owner of a tobacco shop during the Edo period. His real name was , and he was also known popularly as . He began his professional career illustrating the works of others before writ ...

, born Iwase Samuru, Japanese fiction writer, poet and artist (died

1816 This year was known as the ''Year Without a Summer'', because of low temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere, possibly the result of the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia, causing severe global cooling, catastrophic in some locati ...

) *

November 13 Events Pre-1600 * 1002 – English king Æthelred II orders the killing of all Danes in England, known today as the St. Brice's Day massacre. * 1093 – Battle of Alnwick: in an English victory over the Scots, Malcolm III of Scot ...

– Elizabeth Meeke, English popular novelist (died c.

1826 Events January–March * January 15 – The French newspaper ''Le Figaro'' begins publication in Paris, initially as a satirical weekly. * January 17 – The Ballantyne printing business in Edinburgh (Scotland) crashes, ruining noveli ...

) *''Unknown dates'' **

Mary Pilkington Mary Pilkington (born Mary Susanna Hopkins, 1761–1839) was an English novelist and poet. Many of her over forty novels were written for children. Biography Pilkington was born in Cambridge, England. Her father died when she was 15 years old an ...

, English novelist, poet and children's writer (died

1839 Events January–March * January 2 – The first photograph of the Moon is taken, by French photographer Louis Daguerre. * January 6 – Night of the Big Wind: Ireland is struck by the most damaging cyclone in 300 years. * January 9 – ...

) **

Mariana Starke Mariana Starke (1762–1838) was an influential English travel writer, though she also worked in other genres. She is best known for her travel guides to France and Italy, popular with British travellers to the Continent in the early nineteenth ...

, English playwright and travel writer (died

1838 Events January–March * January 10 – A fire destroys Lloyd's Coffee House and the Royal Exchange in London. * January 11 – At Morristown, New Jersey, Samuel Morse, Alfred Vail and Leonard Gale give the first public demonstration ...

)

Deaths

February 25 Events Pre-1600 * 138 – Roman emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius as his son, effectively making him his successor. * 628 – Khosrow II, the last great Shah of the Sasanian Empire (Iran), is overthrown by his son Kavadh II. * ...

– Daniel Henchman, Colonial American bookseller and publisher (born

1689 Events Notable events during this year include: * Coup, war, and legislation in England and its territories. ** The overthrow of Catholic king James of England, Ireland, and Scotland in the Glorious Revolution. ** The latter realms ente ...

) *

April 9 Events Pre-1600 * 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum. * 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (''Enkyklikon'') to the bishops of his empire, ...

–

William Law William Law (16869 April 1761) was a Church of England priest who lost his position at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, when his conscience would not allow him to take the required oath of allegiance to the first Hanoverian monarch, George I of Grea ...

, English theologian (born

1686 Events January–March * January 3 – In Madras (now Chennai) in India, local residents employed by the East India Company threaten to boycott their jobs after corporate administrator William Gyfford imposes a house tax on resid ...

) *

April 15 Events Pre-1600 * 769 – The Lateran Council ends by condemning the Council of Hieria and anathematizing its iconoclastic rulings. * 1071 – Bari, the last Byzantine possession in southern Italy, is surrendered to Robert Guisca ...

–

William Oldys William Oldys (14 July 1696 – 15 April 1761) was an English antiquarian and bibliographer. Life He was probably born in London, the illegitimate son of Dr William Oldys (1636–1708), chancellor of Lincoln diocese. His father had held the ...

, English antiquary and bibliographer (born

1696 Events January–March * January 21 – The Recoinage Act, passed by the Parliament of England to pull counterfeit silver coins out of circulation, becomes law.James E. Thorold Rogers, ''The First Nine Years of the Bank of E ...

) *

April 17 Events Pre-1600 * 1080 – Harald III of Denmark dies and is succeeded by Canute IV, who would later be the first Dane to be canonized. * 1349 – The rule of the Bavand dynasty in Mazandaran is brought to an end by the murder of H ...

–

Benjamin Hoadly Benjamin Hoadly (14 November 167617 April 1761) was an English clergyman, who was successively Bishop of Bangor, of Hereford, of Salisbury, and finally of Winchester. He is best known as the initiator of the Bangorian Controversy. Life ...

, English bishop and instigator of the Bangorian Controversy (born

1676 Events January–March * January 29 – Feodor III of Russia, Feodor III becomes Tsar of Russia. * January 31 – Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, the oldest institution of higher education in Central America, is f ...

) *

July 4 Events Pre-1600 * 362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans. * 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and procla ...

–

Samuel Richardson Samuel Richardson (baptised 19 August 1689 – 4 July 1761) was an English writer and printer known for three epistolary novels: '' Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' (1740), '' Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady'' (1748) and '' The Histo ...

, English novelist (born

) *

August 3 Events Pre-1600 * 8 – Roman Empire general Tiberius defeats the Dalmatae on the river Bosna. * 435 – Deposed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius, considered the originator of Nestorianism, is exiled by Roman Emp ...

–

, German librarian and classicist (born

1691 Events January–March * January 6 – King William III of England, who rules Scotland and Ireland as well as being the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, departs from Margate to tend to the affairs of the Netherlands. * January 14 – ...

) *

December 15 Events Pre-1600 * 533 – Vandalic War: Byzantine Empire, Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Tricamarum. * 687 – Pope Sergius I is elected as a compromise between antipopes P ...

–

Henrietta Louisa Fermor Henrietta Louisa Fermor, Countess of Pomfret (''née'' Jeffreys; 15 November 1698 – 15 December 1761), was an English letter writer. Life She was born in 1698 in Leicester Square, London, the only surviving child of John Jeffreys, 2nd Baron J ...

, Countess of Pomfret, English letter writer (born

1698 Events January–March * January 1 – The Abenaki tribe and Massachusetts colonists sign a treaty, ending the conflict in New England. * January 4 – The Palace of Whitehall in London, England is destroyed by fire. * January 23 – ...

)

References

{{Year in literature article categories