This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1749.
Events
- February â The second part of John Cleland's erotic novel Fanny Hill (Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure) appears in London. He is released from debtor's prison in March. The Church of England asks the Secretary of State to "stop the progress of this vile Book, which is an open insult upon Religion and good manners." In November, Cleland is arrested again, charged with "corrupting the King's subjects."
- February 28 â Henry Fielding's picaresque comic novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling is published in London by Andrew Millar, who pays the author ã700. It reaches four editions by the end of the year. During this year, Fielding becomes magistrate at Bow Street and enlists help from the Bow Street Runners, an early police force.
- April 12 â Oxford's circular Radcliffe Library, designed by James Gibbs, opens.
- April 17 â Charles Macklin plays Lovegold in Henry Fielding's The Miser at Drury Lane, having previously played minor roles.
- unknown dates
- Sarah Fielding's novel The Governess, or The Little Female Academy, generally seen as the first school story, is published in London.
- ÃÂlie Catherine Fréron's journal Lettres de la comtesse de... is suppressed, but immediately replaced by his Lettres sur quelques écrits de ce temps.
- Oliver Goldsmith graduates from Trinity College Dublin.
New books
Prose
Children
Drama
Poetry
Births
- January 13 â Maler Müller (Friedrich Müller), German lyricist, dramatist and painter (died 1825)
- January 16 â Vittorio Alfieri, Italian dramatist and poet (died 1803)
- April 19 â Ã
Âta Nanpo (Ã
Âta Tan), Japanese comic poet and painter (died 1823)
- May 4 â Charlotte Turner Smith, English poet and novelist (died 1806)
- August 28 â Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet, scholar and novelist (died 1832)
- December 19 â Alethea Lewis (Eugenia de Acton), English novelist (died 1827)
- December 25 â Samuel Jackson Pratt, English poet, playwright and novelist (died 1814)
- unknown date â Wang Yun, Chinese poet and playwright (died 1819)
Deaths
References