1739 in literature

Overview of the events of 1739 in literature

|  | List of years in literature | (table)

|
|

* … 1729
* 1730
* 1731
* 1732
* 1733
* 1734
* 1735

* 1736
* 1737
* 1738
* 1739
* 1740
* 1741
* 1742

* 1743
* 1744
* 1745
* 1746
* 1747
* 1748
* 1749 …

In poetry
1736
1737
1738
1739
1740
1741
1742

* Art
* Archaeology
* Architecture
* Literature
* Music
* Philosophy
* Science

+...

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1739.

## Events[edit]

* January 16 – George Frideric Handel's oratorio Saul is first performed at the King's Theatre, Haymarket, London.[1]
* February 9 – The Scots Magazine first appears.[2]
* February 17 – George Whitefield first preaches in the open air, to miners at Kingswood, South Gloucestershire, England.[3]
* March 16 – Henry Brooke's drama Gustavus Vasa becomes the first play banned under the Licensing Act 1737.[4]
* April – John Wesley first preaches in the open air, at Whitefield's invitation.[5]
* November – The Champion (periodical) is launched, with Henry Fielding (under the name Captain Hercules Vinegar) as editor.[6]
* unknown date – The first Bible in the Estonian language, Piibli Ramat, translated by Anton thor Helle, is published.[7]

## New books[edit]

### Prose[edit]

* Penelope Aubin – A Collection of Entertaining Histories and Novels[8]
* John Campbell – The Travels and Adventures of Edward Bevan, Esq., formerly a merchant in London
* Elizabeth Carter
* Examination of Mr. Pope's Essay on Man (translation of De Crousaz's Examen de l'essai de Monsieur Pope sur l'homme)
* Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy Explain'd for the Use of Ladies (translation of Algarotti's Newtonianismo per le donne)
* Philip Doddridge – The Family Expositor
* Richard Glover – London
* David Hume (anonymously) – A Treatise of Human Nature (issued late 1738 but dated this year)
* William Law – The Grounds and Reasons of Christian Regeneration
* John Mottley (as Elijah Jenkins) – Joe Miller's Jests; or, the Wits Vade-Mecum
* Robert Nugent (attributed) – An Epistle to Sir Robert Walpole[9]
* John Oldmixon – The History of England during the Reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth[10]
* Laetitia Pilkington – The Statues
* Samuel Richardson – Aesop's Fables
* Elizabeth Singer Rowe – Miscellaneous Works
* Thomas Sheridan – The Satires of Juvenal Translated
* Joseph Trapp – The Nature, Folly, Sin, and Danger, of Being Righteous Over-much (against George Whitefield)
* Voltaire
* De la Gloire, ou entretien avec un Chinois
* Conseils a M. Helvetius
* Isaac Watts – The World to Come
* George Whitefield – A Continuation of the Reverend Mr. Whitefield's Journal
* Paul Whitehead – Manners

### Drama[edit]

* Daniel Bellamy – Miscellanies in Prose and Verse
* Henry Brooke – Gustavus Vasa
* Anthony Brown – The Fatal Retirement
* Henry Carey – Nancy (opera)
* Thomas Cooke – The Mournful Nuptials (not acted)
* David Mallet – Mustapha
* James Miller – An Hospital for Fools
* Edward Phillips – Britons, Strike Home
* William Shirley – The Parricide
* James Thomson – Edward and Eleonora[11]

### Poetry[edit]

Main article: 1739 in poetry

* Moses Browne – Poems
* Mary Collier – The Woman's Labour: an epistle to Mr Stephen Duck[12]
* Mikhail Lomonosov – Ode on the Taking of Khotin from the Turks
* Robert Nugent
* An Ode on Mr. Pulteney
* An Ode, to His Royal Highness on His Birthday
* Odes and Epistles
* Jonathan Swift – Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift
* John Wesley – Hymns and Sacred Poems

## Births[edit]

* January – Twm o'r Nant, Welsh playwright and poet (died 1810)
* August 31 – Johann Augustus Eberhard, German theologian and philosopher (died 1809)
* November 20 – Jean-François de la Harpe, French critic (died 1803)
* Unknown dates
* Hugh Kelly, Irish-born dramatist and poet (died 1777)[13]
* Sophronius of Vratsa, Bulgarian writer and clergyman, early figure in the Bulgarian National Revival (died 1813)

## Deaths[edit]

* June 20 – Edmond Martène, French historian (born 1654)[14]
* July 25 – Johann Christoph Wolf, German Hebrew scholar and bibliographer (born 1683)[15]
* September 4 – George Lillo, English dramatist and actor (born 1691)[16]
* October 18 – António José da Silva, Brazilian dramatist (born 1705)[17]
* probable – Liu Zhi (劉智), Chinese Muslim scholar (born c. 1660)

## References[edit]

1. ^ Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
2. ^ Ward, A. W. (2009). The Cambridge History of English Literature. Vol. 9\. p. 614.
3. ^ Mathew Backholer (29 January 2018). Reformation to Revival, 500 Years of God’s Glory: Sixty Revivals, Awakenings and Heaven-Sent Visitations of the Holy Spirit. ByFaith Media. p. 90\. ISBN 978-1-907066-61-0.
4. ^ Julia Swindells; David Francis Taylor (2014). The Oxford Handbook of the Georgian Theatre 1737–1832. OUP Oxford. p. 129\. ISBN 978-0-19-960030-4.
5. ^ Erwin Fahlbusch; Geoffrey William Bromiley; Jan Milic Lochman (14 February 2008). The Encyclopedia of Christianity. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. p. 728\. ISBN 978-0-8028-2417-2.
6. ^ Simon Varey (31 July 1986). Henry Fielding. CUP Archive. p. 26\. ISBN 978-0-521-26244-6.
7. ^ Bruce M. Metzger; Michael David Coogan (20 December 2001). The Oxford Guide to Ideas & Issues of the Bible. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 524\. ISBN 978-0-19-514917-3.
8. ^ Penelope Aubin (1739). A Collection of Entertaining Histories and Novels... D. Midwinter, A. Bettesworth and C Hitch, J. and J. Pemberton, R. Ware, C. Rivington, A. Ward, J. and P. Knapton, T. Longman, R. Hett, S. Austen, and J. Wood.
9. ^ Emrys Jones (13 June 2013). Friendship and Allegiance in Eighteenth-Century Literature: The Politics of Private Virtue in the Age of Walpole. Springer. p. 126\. ISBN 978-1-137-30050-8.
10. ^ Laird Okie (1991). Augustan Historical Writing: Histories of England in the English Enlightenment. University Press of America. p. 93\. ISBN 978-0-8191-8050-6.
11. ^ James Thomson (1739). Edward and Eleonora: A Tragedy. As it was to Have Been Acted at the Theatre-Royal in Covent-Garden. author, and sold.
12. ^ Donna Landry; Professor Donna Landry (1990). The Muses of Resistance: Laboring-Class Women's Poetry in Britain, 1739-1796. Cambridge University Press. p. 56\. ISBN 978-0-521-37412-5.
13. ^ Charles Anderton Read (1879). The cabinet of Irish literature, with biogr. sketches and literary notices by C.A. Read (T.P. O'Connor). p. 289.
14. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia. Appleton. 1910. p. 721.
15. ^ George Ripley; Charles Anderson Dana (1863). The New American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge. D. Appleton. pp. 512.
16. ^ George Lillo; Thomas Davies (1810). Mr. Lillo's Life. Silvia; or The Country Burial, an opera. George Barnwall, a tragedy. The Life of Scanderbeg. The Christian Hero, a tragedy. W. Lowndes. p. 32.
17. ^ António Teixeira; Juliet Perkins; António José da Silva (2004). A critical study and translation of António José da Silva's Cretan labyrinth: a puppet opera. E. Mellen Press. p. 35\. ISBN 978-0-7734-6519-0.