1820 in literature

Children

• Maria Hack
• English Stories, illustrating some of the most interesting events and characters between the Accession of Alfred and the Death of John
• English Stories. Second series, between the Accession of Henry the Third and the Death of Henry the Sixth
• Mary Shelley – Maurice, or the Fisher's Cot (written 1820 then lost, published 1997)

Drama

• James Sheridan Knowles – Virginius
• Percy Bysshe Shelley – Prometheus Unbound
• George Soane – The Hebrew
• Charles Edward Walker – Wallace

Poetry

• Robert Burns (died 1796) – The Songs of Robert Burns
• John Clare – Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery
• John Keats
• The Eve of St. Agnes
• Lamia and Other Poems
• Alphonse de Lamartine – Méditations poétiques
• Adam Mickiewicz – Ode to Youth (Oda do młodości)
• Nguyễn Du – The Tale of Kieu (斷腸新聲, Truyện Kiều)
• Aleksandr Pushkin – Ruslan and Ludmila (Руслан и Людмила)
• Percy Bysshe Shelley – To a Skylark

Non-fiction

• Thomas Brown – Lectures on the Philosophy of the Human Mind
• Howard Douglas – A Treatise on Naval Gunnery
• Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel – Elements of the Philosophy of Right
• John George Hoffman – Pow-Wows; or, Long Lost Friend
• Claude François Lallemand – Recherches anatomico-pathologiques sur l'encéphale et ses dépendances (to 1832)
• Charles Lamb – Essays of Elia (begin publication in The London Magazine)
• Thomas Malthus – Principles of Political Economy
• Charles Mills – History of the Crusades for the Recovery and Possession of the Holy Land
• Robert Southey – Life of Wesley
• Mariana Starke – Travels on the Continent: written for the use and particular information of travellers

Births

• January 17 – Anne Brontë, English novelist and poet (died 1849)
• January 30 – Concepción Arenal, Spanish feminist writer and activist (died 1893)
• February 28 – John Tenniel, English illustrator and cartoonist (died 1914)
• March 2 – Multatuli (Eduard Douwes Dekker), Dutch writer (died 1887)
• March 17 – Jean Ingelow, English poet and novelist (died 1897)
• March 30 – Anna Sewell, English novelist (died 1878)
• April 4 – Mkrtich Khrimian, Armenian Catholicos, essayist and poet (died 1907)
• April 16 – Charlotte A. Jerauld, American poet and story writer (died 1845)
• April 26 – Alice Cary, American poet and short-story writer (died 1871)
• April 27 – Herbert Spencer, English philosopher (died 1903)
• June 21 – James Halliwell-Phillipps, English bibliophile (died 1889)
• August 13 – Sir George Grove, English writer and lexicographer on music (died 1900)
• September 2 – Lucretia Peabody Hale, American journalist and author (died 1900)
• September 17 – Émile Augier, French dramatist (died 1889)
• October 14 – John Harris, English poet (died 1884)
• November 23 (December 5 N.S.) – Afanasy Fet, Russian lyric poet, essayist and short-story writer (died 1892)
• November 28 – Friedrich Engels, German socialist writer (died 1895)

Deaths

• February 5 – William Drennan, Irish poet, radical and educationalist (born 1754)
• February 23 – Alojzy Feliński, Polish poet (born 1771)
• March 20 – Eaton Stannard Barrett, Irish satirical poet and novelist (born 1786)
• April 2 – Thomas Brown, Scottish philosopher and poet (born 1778)
• May 1 – Richmal Mangnall, English schoolbook writer (born 1769)
• July 16 – William Hazlitt Sr., Irish writer, radical and Unitarian minister, father of William Hazlitt (born 1737)
• August 23 – Michel de Cubières, French poet, dramatist and historian (born 1752)
• September 16 – Nguyễn Du, Vietnamese poet (born 1766)
• October 5 – Augustin Barruel, French Jesuit priest and writer (born 1741)
• November 8 – Lavinia Stoddard, American poet and educationist (born 1787)
• November 12 – William Hayley, English poet and biographer (born 1745)
• Probable – Dionisie Eclesiarhul, Wallachian scribe, chronicler and illustrator (born c. 1740)

References