1708 in literature

The year 1708 in literature involved some significant literary events and new works.

Events

• July 14 - Joseph Trapp becomes the first Oxford Professor of Poetry.^[1]
• Edward Lhuyd becomes a Fellow of the Royal Society.

New books

• Joseph Addison - The Present State of the War (pro-Marlborough tract)
• Edmund Arwaker - Truth in Fiction (fables)
• Francis Atterbury - Fourteen Sermons Preach'd on Several Occasions
• Joseph Bingham - Origines Ecclesiasticae, or Antiquities of the Christian Church, vol. 1
• Richard Blackmore - The Kit-Cats
• Jeremy Collier - An Ecclesiastical History of Great Britain, Chiefly of England, vol. 1
• Ebenezer Cooke - The Sot-Weed Factor
• Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury - A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm (contra radical Protestantism)
• Edmund Curll - The Charitable Surgeon
• John Downes - Roscius Anglicanus (a historical review of the stage)
• Elijah Fenton - Oxford and Cambridge Miscellany Poems
• John Fisher, Cardinal Bishop of Rochester (executed 1535) - Funeral Sermon for Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby (originally delivered 1509; published with an anonymous preface by Thomas Baker)
• John Gay - Wine
• Charles Gildon
  • Libertas Triumphans (re Battle of Oudenarde)
  • The New Metamorphosis (fiction)
• John Harris - Lexicon Technicum: Or, A Universal English Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, vol. 1 (2nd edition)
• Aaron Hill - The Celebrated Speeches of Ajax and Ulysses, for the Armour of Achilles (from Ovid)
• Benjamin Hoadly - The Unhappiness of the Present Establishment, and the Unhappiness of Absolute Monarchy
• William King - The Art of Cookery (poem)
• Anne de La Roche-Guilhem - La Foire de Beaucaire
• John Locke (died 1704) - Some Familiar Letters
• Simon Ockley - The Conquest of Syria, Persia, and Aegypt by the Saracens (vol. 1 of History of the Saracens)
• Matthew Prior - Poems on Several Occasions (see 1707 for the vexatious publication)
• Jonathan Swift
  • Predictions for the Year 1708
  • The Accomplishment of the First of Mr. Bickerstaff's Predictions (together, part of the "Bickerstaff Papers")
  • An Argument against Abolishing Christianity

New drama

• Thomas Baker - The Fine Lady's Airs
• Peter Anthony Motteux - Love's Triumph (opera)
• Nicholas Rowe - The Royal Convert

Births

• April 23 – Friedrich von Hagedorn, German poet (died 1754)
• July 8 – Claude-Henri de Fusée de Voisenon, French dramatist (died 1775)
• August – André le Breton, French publisher (died 1779)
• August 29 – Olof von Dalin, Swedish poet (died 1763)
• October 16 – Albrecht von Haller, Swiss biologist and poet (died 1777)
• Unknown dates
  • Richard Dawes, English classical scholar (died 1766)
  • Thomas Seward, English poet (died 1790)

Deaths

• January 1 – Johannes Kelpius, German polymath (born 1673)
• March 5 – Charles Le Gobien, French Jesuit writer (born 1653)
• March 15 – William Walsh, English poet and critic (born 1663)^[2]
• October 11 – Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus, German philosopher (born 1651)
• October 21 – Christian Weise, German dramatist and poet (born 1642)
• October 22 – Hermann Witsius, Dutch theologian (born 1636)
• Unknown dates
  • Nicolae Milescu, Moldavian travel writer and diplomat (born 1636)
  • Thomas Ward, English Catholic writer (born 1652)

References