1707 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1707.

Events

• January – The publisher Edmund Curll announces he will publish Matthew Prior's Poems on Several Occasions, even though the rights belong to someone else.
• March 8 – George Farquhar's Restoration comedy The Beaux' Stratagem is first staged, at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London.
• May 1 – The new sovereign Kingdom of Great Britain comes into being under the Acts of Union. It combines the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland into a single realm under Anne, Queen of Great Britain. Supporters of this include Daniel Defoe and John Arbuthnot.
• May 30 – Thomas Wilson, Anglican Bishop of Sodor and Man, publishes Principles and Duties of Christianity... in English and Manks (Coyrie Sodjey), the first book in the Manx language.
• September 9 – Richard Steele marries Mary Scurlock. Their literary marriage gains fame through their correspondence.

New books

Prose

• Anonymous
• Memoirs of the Court of England (translation)
• The History of the Earl of Warwick; Sirnam'd the King-maker (transl.)
• Richard Baxter – The Poetical Works of the Late Richard Baxter
• Thomas Brown – The Works of Mr Thomas Brown
• Anthony Collins – Essay Concerning the Use of Reason
• Jean de Beaugué – Histoire de la guerre d'Ecosse (translation by Patrick Abercromby)
• François Pétis de la Croix (translated and adapted) – Contes Turcs (Turkish Tales)
• Thomas D'Urfey – Stories, Moral and Comical
• Laurence Echard – The History of England vol. 1
• William Fleetwood – Chronicon Preciosum
• Aaron Hart – Urim v'tumim (the first book printed in Hebrew in London)
• Alain-René Lesage – Le Diable boiteux (The Devil upon Two Sticks)
• Edward Lhuyd – Archaeologia Britannica: an Account of the Languages, Histories and Customs of Great Britain...
• Delarivière Manley – The Lady's Pacquet of Letters (fiction)
• Isaac Newton – Arithmetica Universalis
• John Oldmixon – The Muses Mercury (periodical)
• Matthäus Schiner – A Philippick Oration to Incite the English Against the French (translated by John Toland)
• Hans Sloane – A Voyage to the Islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, S. Christophers and Jamaica, v. 1
• Dr. Thomas Smith – Vitæ quorundam Eruditissimorum et Illustrium Virorum
• Jonathan Swift – A Critical Essay upon the Faculties of the Mind
• Matthew Tindal – A Defence of the Rights of the Christian Church (sequel to 1706 work)
• Catherine Trotter – A Discourse Concerning a Guide in Controversies
• Isaac Watts – Hymns and Spiritual Songs (frequently reprinted)
• John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester – The Miscellaneous Works of the Late Earls of Rochester and Roscommon

Drama

• Joseph Addison – Rosamond (opera)
• Susanna Centlivre – The Platonick Lady
• Colley Cibber
• The Lady's Last Stake
• The Double Gallant
• Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon – Atrée et Thyeste
• George Farquhar – The Beaux' Stratagem
• Alain-René Lesage – Crispin rival de son maître
• Peter Anthony Motteux – Thomyris, Queen of Scythia (opera)
• Nicholas Rowe – The Royal Convert
• Nahum Tate – Injur'd Love (an adaptation of Webster's The White Devil)

Poetry

• Samuel Cobb – Poems on Several Occasions
• John Pomfret – Quae Rara, Chara (poem)
• Nicholas Rowe – A Poem Upon the Late Glorious Successes
• Nahum Tate – The Triumph of Union

Births

• January 13 – John Boyle, 5th Earl of Cork, English writer (died 1762)
• January 28 (baptized) – John Baskerville, English printer and typographer (died 1775)
• February 14 – Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French novelist (died 1777)
• February 25 – Carlo Goldoni, Venetian dramatist (died 1793)
• April 20 – Robert Foulis, Scottish printer and publisher (died 1776)
• April 22 – Henry Fielding, English novelist (died 1754)
• June 22 (baptized) – Elizabeth Blackwell, Scottish botanic writer and illustrator (died 1758)
• August 14 – Johann August Ernesti, German philologist (died 1781)
• September 7 – Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, French philosopher (died 1788)
• December 18 – Charles Wesley, English hymnist, religious writer and cleric (died 1788)
• unknown date – Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, Italian rabbi, kabbalist and philosopher (died 1746)

Deaths

• January 20 – Humphrey Hody, English theologian (born 1659)
• April 20 – George Farquhar, Irish dramatist (born 1677)
• June 23 – John Mill, English theologian and exegete (born c. 1645)
• August 17 – Petter Dass, Norwegian poet (born 1647)
• September 15 – George Stepney, English poet and diplomat (born 1663)
• September 23 – John Tutchin, English controversialist (born c. 1660–64)
• September 24 – Vincenzo da Filicaja, Italian poet (born 1642)
• December 27 – Jean Mabillon, French scholar (born 1632)

References