1820 in literature

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This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1820.

Events[]

January 16 – Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery by "Northamptonshire peasant poet" John Clare is published in England by John Taylor.^[1]
April 22 – Walter Scott is created 1st baronet of Abbotsford in the County of Roxburgh in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom.^[2]
September – Poet John Keats, suffering from tuberculosis, leaves London to take up residence in the house on the Spanish Steps in Rome where he will die in 1821.
November 20 – An 80-ton sperm whale attacks the Essex, a whaleship from Nantucket, Massachusetts, 2,000 miles off the western coast of South America. Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick is in part inspired by this story.
unknown dates
- More than 20 years after the poet's death, Robert Chambers edits and publishes The Songs of Robert Burns.^[3]
- Thomas Kendall has the first book printed in the Māori language, A korao no New Zealand; or, the New Zealander's first book; being an attempt to compose some lessons for the instruction of the natives, published in Sydney, Australia.^[4]
- The first translation of the Old English epic poem Beowulf into a modern language, Danish, Bjovulfs Drape, by N. F. S. Grundtvig, is published.^[5]
- The Cambridge Apostles, an intellectual discussion group, is established at the University of Cambridge in England.^[6]

New books[]

Fiction[]

James Fenimore Cooper – Precaution
Thomas Gaspey – Forty Years Ago
Robert Huish – Castle of Nielo
Francis Lathom – Italian Mysteries
Charles Maturin (anonymously) – Melmoth the Wanderer
Regina Marie Roche – The Munster Cottage Boy
Sir Walter Scott
- Ivanhoe
- The Abbot
- The Monastery
Louisa Stanhope – The Crusaders
Rosalia St. Clair – The Highland Castle, and the Lowland Cottage

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
William Thomas Moncrieff – The Lear of Private Life
Percy Bysshe Shelley – Prometheus Unbound

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
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)^[7]
January 30 – Concepción Arenal, Spanish feminist writer and activist (died 1893)^[8]
February 28 – John Tenniel, English illustrator and cartoonist (died 1914)^[9]
March 2 – Multatuli (Eduard Douwes Dekker), Dutch writer (died 1887)^[10]
March 17 – Jean Ingelow, English poet and novelist (died 1897)^[11]
March 30 – Anna Sewell, English novelist (died 1878)
April 4 – Mkrtich Khrimian, Armenian Catholicos, essayist and poet (died 1907)
April 26 – Alice Cary, American poet and short-story writer (died 1871)^[12]
April 27 – Herbert Spencer, English philosopher (died 1903)^[13]
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)^[14]
September 17 – Émile Augier, French dramatist (died 1889)^[15]
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)^[16]

Deaths[]

February 5 – William Drennan, Irish poet, radical and educationalist (born 1754)
February 23 – Alojzy Feliński, Polish poet (born 1771)^[17]
March 20 – Eaton Stannard Barrett, Irish satirical poet and novelist (born 1786)^[18]
April 2 – Thomas Brown, Scottish philosopher and poet (born 1778)^[19]
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)^[20]
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)^[21]
November 12 – William Hayley, English poet and biographer (born 1745)^[22]

References[]

^ [Gilchrist, Octavius] (1820). "Some Account of John Clare, an Agricultural Labourer and Poet". The London Magazine.
^ Cox, Michael, ed. (2004). The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860634-6.
^ Robert Burns (1856). The life and works of Robert Burns, ed. by R. Chambers. Libr. ed. p. 2.
^ "Thomas Kendall", Dictionary of New Zealand Biography
^ SAJ Bradley (31 December 2008). N.F.S. Grundtvig, A Life Recalled: An Anthology of Biographical Source-Texts. Aarhus University Press. p. 436. ISBN 978-87-7934-007-7.
^ A. C. Grayling; Andrew Pyle; Naomi Goulder (28 June 2006). Continuum Encyclopedia of British Philosophy. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-84371-141-4.
^ "Anne Brontë | British author". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
^ Calendar of Spanish Anniversaries. Tardy publishing Company, Incorporated. 1935.
^ Sir John Tenniel. Bradbury, Agnew & Company. 1914. p. 1863.
^ Multatuli (1982). Max Havelaar, Or, The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company. University of Massachusetts Press. p. 339.
^ Shattock, Joanne (1993). The Oxford Guide to British Women Writers. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-19214-176-7.
^ Edwin Francis Hatfield (1884). The Poets of the Church: A Series of Biographical Sketches of Hymn-writers with Notes on Their Hymns. A. D. F. Randolph. p. 133.
^ Daniel Greenleaf Thompson (1889). Herbert Spencer: His Life, Writings, and Philosophy. G.H. Ellis. p. 4.
^ Kuiper, Kathleen (1995). Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature. Springfield: Merriam-Webster. p. 508. ISBN 978-0-87779-042-6.
^ Charles Dudley Warner (1 July 2008). A Library of the World's Best Literature - Ancient and Modern - Vol.XLII (Forty-Five Volumes); Dictionary of Authors (A-J). Cosimo, Inc. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-60520-248-8.
^ V. Ė Kunina (1987). Frederick Engels: His Life and Work : Documents and Photographs. Progress. p. 18.
^ T. 4: Oświecenie, ed. (1966). Bibliografia Literatury Polskiej – Nowy Korbut (in Polish). Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy. pp. 451–456.
^ The Ladies' Monthly Museum. J.W.H. Payne. 1820. p. 53.
^ Trevor Royle (11 November 1984). Macmillan Companion to Scottish Literature. Macmillan International Higher Education. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-349-07587-4.
^ Wu, Duncan (2008). William Hazlitt: The First Modern Man. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.
^ Griswold, Rufus Wilmot (1858). The Female Poets of America (Public domain ed.). Ardent Media.
^ Thomas Dugdale (1830). England & Wales delineated, by T. Dugdale, assisted by W. Burnett. (Curiosities of Great Britain). p. 461.

[1] [Gilchrist, Octavius] (1820). "Some Account of John Clare, an Agricultural Labourer and Poet". The London Magazine.

[cocel-2] Cox, Michael, ed. (2004). The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860634-6.

[Burns1856-3] Robert Burns (1856). The life and works of Robert Burns, ed. by R. Chambers. Libr. ed. p. 2.

[4] "Thomas Kendall", Dictionary of New Zealand Biography

[5] SAJ Bradley (31 December 2008). N.F.S. Grundtvig, A Life Recalled: An Anthology of Biographical Source-Texts. Aarhus University Press. p. 436. ISBN 978-87-7934-007-7.

[6] A. C. Grayling; Andrew Pyle; Naomi Goulder (28 June 2006). Continuum Encyclopedia of British Philosophy. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-84371-141-4.

[7] "Anne Brontë | British author". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 8 April 2019.

[8] Calendar of Spanish Anniversaries. Tardy publishing Company, Incorporated. 1935.

[9] Sir John Tenniel. Bradbury, Agnew & Company. 1914. p. 1863.

[10] Multatuli (1982). Max Havelaar, Or, The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company. University of Massachusetts Press. p. 339.

[11] Shattock, Joanne (1993). The Oxford Guide to British Women Writers. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-19214-176-7.

[12] Edwin Francis Hatfield (1884). The Poets of the Church: A Series of Biographical Sketches of Hymn-writers with Notes on Their Hymns. A. D. F. Randolph. p. 133.

[13] Daniel Greenleaf Thompson (1889). Herbert Spencer: His Life, Writings, and Philosophy. G.H. Ellis. p. 4.

[14] Kuiper, Kathleen (1995). Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature. Springfield: Merriam-Webster. p. 508. ISBN 978-0-87779-042-6.

[15] Charles Dudley Warner (1 July 2008). A Library of the World's Best Literature - Ancient and Modern - Vol.XLII (Forty-Five Volumes); Dictionary of Authors (A-J). Cosimo, Inc. p. 29. ISBN 978-1-60520-248-8.

[16] V. Ė Kunina (1987). Frederick Engels: His Life and Work : Documents and Photographs. Progress. p. 18.

[17] T. 4: Oświecenie, ed. (1966). Bibliografia Literatury Polskiej – Nowy Korbut (in Polish). Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy. pp. 451–456.

[18] The Ladies' Monthly Museum. J.W.H. Payne. 1820. p. 53.

[19] Trevor Royle (11 November 1984). Macmillan Companion to Scottish Literature. Macmillan International Higher Education. p. 43. ISBN 978-1-349-07587-4.

[20] Wu, Duncan (2008). William Hazlitt: The First Modern Man. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press.

[21] Griswold, Rufus Wilmot (1858). The Female Poets of America (Public domain ed.). Ardent Media.

[22] Thomas Dugdale (1830). England & Wales delineated, by T. Dugdale, assisted by W. Burnett. (Curiosities of Great Britain). p. 461.

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