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1744 In Literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1744. Events * February 6 – Samuel Foote makes his debut as an actor as Othello at the Haymarket Theatre, London, England. * February 15 – Spranger Barry makes his debut as an actor at the Theatre Royal, Dublin. *April – ''The Female Spectator'' (a monthly) is founded by Eliza Haywood in England, the first periodical written for women by a woman. *April 14 – The Physico-Historical Society is formed in Dublin for the preservation of 'manuscripts, rare printed books, and natural curiosities relating to Ireland'. *May 29 – Alexander Pope is received into the Catholic Church, a day before his death. New books Fiction * Mary Collyer – ''Felicia to Charlotte'' *Sarah Fielding – ''The Adventures of David Simple'' *Eliza Haywood – ''The Fortunate Foundlings'' * Edward Moore – ''Fables for the Female Sex'' *William Oldys – ''The Harleian Miscellany'' (introduction by Samuel Johnson) *Jos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
February 6
Events Pre-1600 * 1579 – The Archdiocese of Manila is made a diocese by a papal bull with Domingo de Salazar being its first bishop. 1601–1900 * 1685 – James II of England and VII of Scotland is proclaimed King upon the death of his brother Charles II. * 1694 – The warrior queen Dandara, leader of the runaway slaves in Quilombo dos Palmares, Brazil, is captured and commits suicide rather than be returned to a life of slavery. * 1778 – American Revolutionary War: In Paris the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce are signed by the United States and France signaling official recognition of the new republic. * 1778 – New York became the third state to ratify the Articles of Confederation. * 1788 – Massachusetts becomes the sixth state to ratify the United States Constitution. * 1806 – Battle of San Domingo: British naval victory against the French in the Caribbean. * 1819 – Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles found ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Oldys
William Oldys (14 July 1696 – 15 April 1761) was an English antiquarian and bibliographer. Life He was probably born in London, the illegitimate son of Dr William Oldys (1636–1708), chancellor of Lincoln diocese. His father had held the office of advocate of the admiralty, but lost it in 1693 because he would not prosecute as traitors and pirates the sailors who had served against England under James II. William Oldys, the younger, lost part of his small patrimony in the South Sea Bubble, and in 1724 went to Yorkshire, spending the greater part of the next six years as the guest of the Earl of Malton. On his return to London he found that his landlord had disposed of the books and papers left in his charge. Among these was an annotated copy of Gerard Langbaine's ''Dramatick Poets''. The book came into the hands of Thomas Coxeter, and subsequently into those of Theophilus Cibber, furnishing the basis of the ''Lives of the Poets'' (1753) published with Cibber's name on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahomet (play)
''Mahomet'' (french: Le fanatisme, ou Mahomet le Prophète, literally ''Fanaticism, or Mahomet the Prophet'') is a five-act tragedy written in 1736 by French playwright and philosopher Voltaire. It received its debut performance in Lille on 25 April 1741. The play is a study of religious fanaticism and self-serving manipulation based on an episode in the traditional biography of Muhammad in which he orders the murder of his critics.Voltaire, ''Mahomet the Prophet or Fanaticism: A Tragedy in Five Acts'', trans. Robert L. Myers, ( New York: Frederick Ungar, 1964). Voltaire described the play as "written in opposition to the founder of a false and barbarous sect". Plot summary The story of ''Mahomet'' unfolds during Muhammad's post exile siege of Mecca in 629 AD, when the opposing forces are under a short term truce called to discuss the terms and course of the war. In the first act the audience is introduced to a fictional leader of the Meccans, Zopir, an ardent and defiant advoc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778) was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher. Known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' M. de Voltaire (; also ; ), he was famous for his wit, and his criticism of Christianity—especially Criticism of the Catholic Church, of the Roman Catholic Church—and of slavery. Voltaire was an advocate of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and separation of church and state. Voltaire was a versatile and prolific writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including stageplay, plays, poems, novels, essays, histories, and scientific Exposition (narrative), expositions. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and 2,000 books and pamphlets. Voltaire was one of the first authors to become renowned and commercially successful internationally. He was an outspoken advocate of civil liberties and was at constant risk from the strict censorship laws of the Catholic French monarchy. His polemics ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mahomet The Imposter
''Mahomet the Imposter'' is a 1744 tragedy by the British writer James Miller. His final play, it was inspired by the 1736 French work '' Mahomet'' by Voltaire. It was Miller's only tragedy, as his other works were sentimental comedies.Nicoll p.111 The title is sometimes spelt as ''Mahomet the Impostor''. The original Drury Lane cast included David Garrick as Zaphna, Dennis Delane as Mahomet, Henry Giffard as Alcanor, Richard Winstone as Pharon and Anna Marcella Giffard Anna Marcella Giffard (1707-1777) was an Irish stage actress. She was a member of the Lyddal acting family of Dublin, and began appearing herself at the Smock Alley Theatre under the name of Nancy Lyddal in the 1720s. In around 1728 she married ... as Palmira. References Bibliography * Nicoll, Allardyce. ''A History of Early Eighteenth Century Drama: 1700-1750''. CUP Archive, 1927. 1744 plays Tragedy plays West End plays Plays by James Miller Cultural depictions of Muhammad {{1740s-play-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training in Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent the bulk of his career and became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the middle-German polyphonic choral tradition and by composers of the Italian Baroque. In turn, Handel's music forms one of the peaks of the "high baroque" style, bringing Italian opera to its highest development, creating the genres of English oratorio and organ concerto, and introducing a new style into English church music. He is consistently recognized as one of the greatest composers of his age. Handel started three commercial opera companies to supply the English nobility with Italian opera. In 1737, he had a physical break ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Miller (playwright)
James Miller (1704–1744) was an English playwright, poet, librettist, and minister. Biography Miller was born in Bridport, Dorset on 11 August 1704, the son of a clergyman who possessed two considerable livings in the county. He studied at Wadham College, Oxford, and while there wrote part of his famous comedy, '' The Humours of Oxford'', which contained music by Richard Charke and was first performed on 9 January 1730, to great success. Miller's family was somewhat unsupportive of his theatrical endeavors. They had wanted him to pursue a career in business, but Miller showed a revulsion to such a path. He therefore was persuaded to follow in his father's profession as a minister, taking holy orders soon after he left Wadham. Miller became a lecturer at Trinity College, Conduit Street and a preacher at Roehampton Chapel. The livings for these positions however did not provide for the lifestyle that Miller was accustomed to, so he continued to write for the stage to supp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Regulus (1744 Play)
''Regulus'' is a 1744 tragedy by the British writer William Havard. It portrays the career of Marcus Atilius Regulus, a Roman Consul at the time of the First Punic War. It ran for seven performances during the season.Highfill, Burnim & Langhans p.186 The original Drury Lane cast included David Garrick as Regulus, Havard himself as Decius, Dennis Delane as Corvus, William Mills as Metullus, Edward Berry as Manlius, James Taswell as Attilus Regulus, Edward Woodburn as Emelius, Anne Budgell as Clelia and Anna Marcella Giffard Anna Marcella Giffard (1707-1777) was an Irish stage actress. She was a member of the Lyddal acting family of Dublin, and began appearing herself at the Smock Alley Theatre under the name of Nancy Lyddal in the 1720s. In around 1728 she married ... as Martia. References Bibliography * Baines, Paul & Ferarro, Julian & Rogers, Pat. ''The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Eighteenth-Century Writers and Writing, 1660-1789''. Wiley-Blackwell, 2011. * Highfill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Havard (actor)
William Havard (1710?–1778), was a British actor and dramatist. Havard appeared at Goodman's Fields Theatre, 1730–1737, and then at the Drury Lane Theatre until retirement in 1769. He generally played secondary parts; depreciated in Rosciad. He also appeared in his own plays, '' King Charles I'' at Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1737; ''Regulus'' Drury Lane, 1744; and ''The Elopement'' Drury Lane, 1763. Selected roles * Montesini in '' The Parricide'' (1736) * Rosebrand in ''The Independent Patriot'' (1737) * Talthybius in ''Agamemnon'' (1738) * Hartly in '' The Coffee House'' (1738) * Achmet in '' Mustapha'' (1739) * Young Freeman in '' Love the Cause and Cure of Grief'' (1743) * Decius in ''Regulus'' (1744) * Young Whimsey in '' The Astrologer'' (1744) * Rodolpho in '' Tancred and Sigismunda'' (1745) * Bellamy in ''The Suspicious Husband'' (1747) * Colonel Raymond in '' The Foundling'' (1748) * Abdalla, An Officer in '' Irene'' (1749) * Arnold in ''Edward the Black Prince'' (1750 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Dodsley
Robert Dodsley (13 February 1703 – 23 September 1764) was an English bookseller, publisher, poet, playwright, and miscellaneous writer. Life Dodsley was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school. He is said to have been apprenticed to a stocking-weaver in Mansfield, from whom he ran away, going into service as a footman. Profits and fame from his early literary works enabled Dodsley to establish himself with the help of his friends (Alexander Pope lent him £100) as a bookseller at the sign of Tully's Head in Pall Mall, London, in 1735. He soon became one of the foremost publishers of the day. One of his first publications was Samuel Johnson's ''London'' for which he paid ten guineas in 1738. He published many of Johnson's works, and he suggested and helped to finance Johnson's ''Dictionary''. Pope also made over to Dodsley his interest in his letters. In 1738, the publication of Paul Whitehead's ''Manners'' was voted scandalous by th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book
''Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song-Book'' is the first extant anthology of English nursery rhymes, published in London in 1744. It contains the oldest printed texts of many well-known and popular rhymes, as well as several that eventually dropped out of the canon of rhymes for children. A copy is held in the British Library. In 2013 a facsimile edition with an introduction by Andrea Immel and Brian Alderson was published by the Cotsen Occasional Press. Publication With the full title of ''Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book Voll.'' ic''II'', this was a sequel to the now lost '' Tommy Thumb's Song Book'', published in London by Mary Cooper in 1744. For many years, it was thought that there was only a single copy in existence, now in the British Library, but in 2001 another copy appeared and was sold for £45,000. As a result, this is the oldest printed collection of English nursery rhymes that is available. Henry Carey's 1725 satire on Ambrose Philips, Namby Pamby, quotes or alludes to some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Little Pretty Pocket-Book
''A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, intended for the Amusement of Little Master Tommy and Pretty Miss Polly with Two Letters from Jack the Giant Killer'' is the title of a 1744 children's book by British publisher John Newbery. History It is generally considered the first children's book, and consists of simple rhymes for each of the letters of the alphabet. To market the book to the children of the day, the book came with either a ball for a boy, or a pincushion for a girl. The book was very popular in England, and earned Newbery much fame; eventually the Newbery Medal was named after him. The book was re-published in Colonial America in 1762. Dr A S W Rosenbach called this book, "One of the most influential and important books in the history of juvenile literature." Description The book includes a woodcut of stool-ball among other period games, and includes a rhyme entitled "Base-Ball." This is the first known reference to "base-ball" or "baseball" in print, though it actually me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
