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1820 in literature

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{{Year nav topic5|1820|literature|poetry}}

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.[Gilchrist, Octavius] (1820). "Some Account of John Clare, an Agricultural Labourer and Poet". The London Magazine.
  • April 22 – Walter Scott is created 1st baronet of Abbotsford in the County of Roxburgh in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom.{{Cite book |editor=Cox, Michael |title=The Concise Oxford Chronology of English Literature |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-19-860634-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/conciseoxfordchr00coxm}}
  • 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.{{cite book|author=Robert Burns|title=The life and works of Robert Burns, ed. by R. Chambers. Libr. ed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=haACAAAAQAAJ&pg=RA2-PA318|year=1856|page=2}}
  • 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.{{Citation |url=http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=1K9 |work=Dictionary of New Zealand Biography |title=Thomas Kendall}}
  • The first translation of the Old English epic poem Beowulf into a modern language, Danish, Bjovulfs Drape, by N. F. S. Grundtvig, is published.{{cite book|author=SAJ Bradley|title=N.F.S. Grundtvig, A Life Recalled: An Anthology of Biographical Source-Texts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Z2eDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA436|date=31 December 2008|publisher=Aarhus University Press|isbn=978-87-7934-007-7|page=436}}
  • The Cambridge Apostles, an intellectual discussion group, is established at the University of Cambridge in England.{{cite book|author1=A. C. Grayling|author2=Andrew Pyle|author3=Naomi Goulder|title=Continuum Encyclopedia of British Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAYRAQAAMAAJ|date=28 June 2006|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-1-84371-141-4|page=123}}

New books

=Fiction=

=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{{cite book|author=Jonathon Sachs|title=Romantic Antiquity: Rome in the British Imagination, 1789-1832|publisher=OUP USA|year=2010|page=224}}
  • Percy Bysshe Shelley – Prometheus Unbound{{Cite book |last=Shelley |first= Percy Bysshe|year=1820 |title=Prometheus Unbound, A Lyrical Drama in Four Acts with Other Poems |publisher= C and J Ollier |place=London |edition= 1 |url= https://archive.org/details/prometheusunboun00shelrich|access-date=21 May 2015}} via Internet Archive
  • George Soane – The Hebrew{{cite book|author=John C. Greene|title=Theatre in Dublin, 1745-1820: A Calendar of Performances, Volume 6|publisher=Lexington Books|year=2011|page=4547}}
  • Charles Edward Walker – Wallace{{cite book|author=Allardyce Nicoll|title=A History of Early Nineteenth Century Drama 1800-1850|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1930|page=416}}

=Poetry=

=Non-fiction=

Births

  • January 17 – Anne Brontë, English novelist and poet (died 1849){{cite web |title=Anne Brontë {{!}} British author |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Anne-Bronte |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=8 April 2019 |language=en}}
  • January 30 – Concepción Arenal, Spanish feminist writer and activist (died 1893){{cite book|title=Calendar of Spanish Anniversaries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vrYUAQAAIAAJ|year=1935|publisher=Tardy publishing Company, Incorporated}}
  • February 28 – John Tenniel, English illustrator and cartoonist (died 1914){{cite book|title=Sir John Tenniel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AnoKcQVWj3cC|year=1914|publisher=Bradbury, Agnew & Company|page=1863}}
  • March 2 – Multatuli (Eduard Douwes Dekker), Dutch writer (died 1887){{cite book|author=Multatuli|title=Max Havelaar, Or, The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vvY2AAAAIAAJ|year=1982|publisher=University of Massachusetts Press|page=339|isbn=978-0-87023-360-9 }}
  • March 17 – Jean Ingelow, English poet and novelist (died 1897){{cite book|first=Joanne|last=Shattock|title=The Oxford Guide to British Women Writers|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1993|page=225|isbn=978-0-19214-176-7}}
  • 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){{cite book|last1=Jerauld|first1=Charlotte Ann Fillebrown|last2=Bacon|first2=Henry|title=Poetry and prose|url=https://archive.org/details/poetryandprose00bacogoog|edition=Public domain|year=1860|publisher=A. Tompkins|pages=[https://archive.org/details/poetryandprose00bacogoog/page/n22 22]–}}
  • April 26 – Alice Cary, American poet and short-story writer (died 1871){{cite book|author=Edwin Francis Hatfield|title=The Poets of the Church: A Series of Biographical Sketches of Hymn-writers with Notes on Their Hymns|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1X9Na4_B8TsC&pg=PA133|year=1884|publisher=A. D. F. Randolph|page=133}}
  • April 27 – Herbert Spencer, English philosopher (died 1903){{cite book|author=Daniel Greenleaf Thompson|title=Herbert Spencer: His Life, Writings, and Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hEMvdumLD3EC&pg=PA4|year=1889|publisher=G.H. Ellis|page=4}}
  • 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){{cite book|first=Kathleen|last=Kuiper|title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature|location=Springfield|publisher=Merriam-Webster|year=1995|isbn=978-0-87779-042-6|page=508}}
  • September 17 – Émile Augier, French dramatist (died 1889){{cite book|author=Charles Dudley Warner|title=A Library of the World's Best Literature - Ancient and Modern - Vol.XLII (Forty-Five Volumes); Dictionary of Authors (A-J)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0g7UAtyUJYMC&pg=PA29|date=1 July 2008|publisher=Cosimo, Inc.|isbn=978-1-60520-248-8|page=29}}
  • 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){{cite book|author=V. Ė Kunina|title=Frederick Engels: His Life and Work: Documents and Photographs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GdILAAAAYAAJ|year=1987|publisher=Progress|page=18|isbn=978-0-7147-2582-6 }}

Deaths

  • February 5 – William Drennan, Irish poet, radical and educationalist (born 1754)
  • February 23 – Alojzy Feliński, Polish poet (born 1771){{Cite book|volume=4: Oświecenie |title= Bibliografia Literatury Polskiej – Nowy Korbut |publisher=Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy |place=Warszawa |year=1966 |pages=451–456|language=pl}}
  • March 20 – Eaton Stannard Barrett, Irish satirical poet and novelist (born 1786){{cite book|title=The Ladies' Monthly Museum|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tZMeAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA53|year=1820|publisher=J.W.H. Payne|page=53}}
  • April 2 – Thomas Brown, Scottish philosopher and poet (born 1778){{Cite book |author=Trevor Royle |title=Macmillan Companion to Scottish Literature |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SDJdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA43 |date=11 November 1984 |publisher=Macmillan International Higher Education |isbn=978-1-349-07587-4 |page=43}}
  • 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){{cite book |last1=Wu |first1=Duncan |title=William Hazlitt: The First Modern Man |publisher=Oxford University Press |place=Oxford & New York |year=2008}}
  • 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){{cite book|last=Griswold|first=Rufus Wilmot|author-link=Rufus Wilmot Griswold|title=The Female Poets of America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dvjq1dwGmgIC&pg=PA44|edition=Public domain|year=1858|publisher=Ardent Media}}
  • November 12 – William Hayley, English poet and biographer (born 1745){{Cite book |author=Thomas Dugdale |title=England & Wales delineated, by T. Dugdale, assisted by W. Burnett. (Curiosities of Great Britain) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dQ4HAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA461 |year=1830 |page=461}}
  • Probable – Dionisie Eclesiarhul, Wallachian scribe, chronicler and illustrator (born c. 1740)

References

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