This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1725.

Events

June 12 Events Pre-1600 * 910 – Battle of Augsburg: The Hungarians defeat the East Frankish army under King Louis the Child, using the famous feigned retreat tactic of the nomadic warriors. * 1240 – At the instigation of Louis IX of Fr ...

– Émilie de Breteuil marries Marquis Florent-Claude du Chastellet. *December – The library of

Charles Killigrew Charles Killigrew (1655–1725) was an English courtier, theatre manager and Master of the Revels. Life Born at Maastricht on 29 December 1655, he was son of Thomas Killigrew (the elder), by his second wife, Charlotte, daughter of John de Hesse of ...

, who was the

Master of the Revels The Master of the Revels was the holder of a position within the English, and later the British, royal household, heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels". The Master of the Revels was an executive officer under the Lord Chamberlain. ...

for 48 years, is sold a few months after his death. *In China, 66 copies of a 5,020-volume encyclopedia, the ''

Gujin Tushu Jicheng The ''Gujin Tushu Jicheng'' (), also known as the ''Imperial Encyclopaedia'', is a vast encyclopedic work written in China during the reigns of the Qing dynasty emperors Kangxi and Yongzheng. It was begun in 1700 and completed in 1725. The wor ...

(Complete Collection of Illustrations and Writings from the Earliest to Current Times)'' are printed, which requires the crafting of 250,000 movable-type characters cast in bronze.

New books

Prose

Joseph Addison Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 June 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was the eldest son of The Reverend Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richard S ...

– ''Miscellanies'' *''

The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage ''The Book of Abramelin'' tells the story of an Egyptian mage named Abraham, or Abra-Melin, who taught a system of magic to Abraham of Worms, a Jew in Worms, Germany, presumed to have lived from –. The system of magic from this book regained ...

'' (first printed edition) *

Mary Davys Mary Davys (1674?–1732) was an Irish novelist and playwright. Early life Davis was born in Ireland: nothing is known about her childhood, including her birth name. Comments by Jonathan Swift, who was at Trinity College Dublin with her hus ...

– ''The Works of Mrs. Davys'' *

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

– ''The Complete English Tradesman'' *

George Bubb Dodington George Bubb Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe (1691 – 28 July 1762) was an English Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1715 to 1761. Christened George Bubb, he was the eldest son of Jeremiah Bubb of Foy, Herefordshire and his wife ...

– ''An Epistle to Sir Robert Walpole'' * John Dyer – ''A New Miscellany'' *

Laurence Echard Laurence Echard (c. 1670–1730) was an English historian and clergyman. He wrote a ''History of England'' that was a standard work in its time. Life Echard was the son of the Rev. Thomas Echard or Eachard of Barsham, Suffolk, by his wife, th ...

– ''The History of the Revelation'' *

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

– ''

A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain ''A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain'' is a philosophical pamphlet by Benjamin Franklin, published in London in 1725 in response to ''The Religion of Nature Delineated''. It argues that an omnipotent, benevolent God is inco ...

'' *

Johann Joseph Fux Johann Joseph Fux (; – 13 February 1741) was an Austrian composer, music theory, music theorist and pedagogy, pedagogue of the late Baroque music, Baroque era. His most enduring work is not a musical composition but his treatise on counterpoin ...

– ''Gradus ad Parnassum'' (Steps to Mount Parnassus, in Latin) *

Zachary Grey Zachary Grey (6 May 1688 – 1766) was an English priest, controversialist, and conservative spokesman for the Church of England. He was also an editor, commentator on William Shakespeare, and critic of dissenter historians. Life Grey was ...

– ''A Defence of Our Antient and Modern Historians'' (against

John Oldmixon John Oldmixon (1673 – 9 July 1742) was an English historian. He was a son of John Oldmixon of Oldmixon, Weston-super-Mare in Somerset. He was brought up by the family of Admiral Robert Blake in Bridgwater and later became involved in trad ...

) *

Eliza Haywood Eliza Haywood (c. 1693 – 25 February 1756), born Elizabeth Fowler, was an English writer, actress and publisher. An increase in interest and recognition of Haywood's literary works began in the 1980s. Described as "prolific even by the standar ...

**''Bath-Intrigues'' **''

Fantomina ''Fantomina; or, Love in a Maze'' is a novel by Eliza Haywood published in 1725. In it, the protagonist disguises herself as four different women in her efforts to understand how a man may interact with each individual persona. Part of the trad ...

'' **''Memoirs of a Certain Island Adjacent to the Kingdom of Utopia'' **''Secret Histories, Novels and Poems'' * Francis Hutcheson – ''An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue'' (on

aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...

) *

– ''A Review of Dr. Zachary Grey's Defence'' *

Richardson Pack Richardson Pack (1682–1728) was an English professional soldier and writer. Life Born on 29 November 1682, was son of John Pack of Stoke Ash, High Sheriff of Suffolk cin 1697. His mother was daughter and coheiress of Robert Richardson of Tudhoe ...

– ''A New Collection of Miscellanies'' *

Christopher Pitt Christopher Pitt (1699 – 13 April 1748) was an English clergyman poet; he was also a translator whose performance was esteemed in his day. Family connections Christopher Pitt came from a family wide-spread in the West of England. Several o ...

– ''Vida's Art of Poetry'' (translation of

Marco Girolamo Vida Marco Girolamo Vida or Marcus Hieronymus Vida (1485? – September 27, 1566) was an Italian humanist, bishop and poet. Life Marco was born at Cremona, the son of the consular (patrician) Guglielmo Vida, and Leona Oscasale. He had two brother ...

) * Richard Savage – ''The Authors of the Town'' *

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

– ''The Works of Shakespear'' (edited by Pope) *

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...

– ''Fraud Detected; or, The Hibernian Patriot'' *

Giambattista Vico Giambattista Vico (born Giovan Battista Vico ; ; 23 June 1668 – 23 January 1744) was an Italian philosopher, rhetorician, historian, and jurist during the Italian Enlightenment. He criticized the expansion and development of modern rationali ...

– ''New Science'' *

Isaac Watts Isaac Watts (17 July 1674 – 25 November 1748) was an English Congregational minister, hymn writer, theologian, and logician. He was a prolific and popular hymn writer and is credited with some 750 hymns. His works include "When I Survey the ...

– ''Logick'' * George Whitehead – ''The Christian Progress of George Whitehead'' *

Edward Young Edward Young (c. 3 July 1683 – 5 April 1765) was an English poet, best remembered for ''Night-Thoughts'', a series of philosophical writings in blank verse, reflecting his state of mind following several bereavements. It was one of the mos ...

– ''The Universal Passion: Satire'' *

Benito Jerónimo Feijoo Benito may refer to: Places * Benito, Kentucky, United States * Benito, Manitoba, Canada * Benito River, a river in Equatorial Guinea Other uses * Benito (name) * Benito (1993), ''Benito'' (1993), an Italian film See also

* ''Benito Cereno'', ...

– ''Aprobación apologetica del scepticismo médico del doctor Martín Martínez'' *

Diego de Torres Villarroel Diego de Torres Villarroel (169319 June 1770) was a Spanish writer, poet, dramatist, doctor, mathematician, priest and professor of the University of Salamanca. His most famous work is his autobiography, ''Vida, ascendencia, nacimiento, crianza y ...

– ''Correo del otro mundo al gran Piscator de Salamanca''

Drama

Colley Cibber Colley Cibber (6 November 1671 – 11 December 1757) was an English actor-manager, playwright and Poet Laureate. His colourful memoir ''Apology for the Life of Colley Cibber'' (1740) describes his life in a personal, anecdotal and even rambling ...

– ''Caesar in Aegypt'' *

Augustin Nadal The abbé Augustin Nadal (1659 – 7 August 1741) was the author of plays, through the failure of which he became the butt of a withering public reply from Voltaire that has rendered the abbé immortal. He was born in Poitiers. Having finished his ...

– ''

Mariamne Mariamne is a name frequently used in the Herodian royal house. In Greek it is spelled Μαριάμη (Mariame) by Josephus; in some editions of his work the second ''m'' is doubled (Mariamme). In later copies of those editions the spelling was ...

'' *

Gabriel Odingsells Gabriel Odingsells (1690–1734) was a British playwright. He attended Pembroke College, Oxford. In 1725 he wrote a comedy ''The Bath Unmasked'', set in the city of Bath, Somerset, Bath, which appeared at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre. This was fo ...

– ** ''

The Bath Unmasked ''The Bath Unmasked'' is a 1725 comedy play by the British writer Gabriel Odingsells. The action takes place in the fashionable spa town of Bath. Staged at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in London it lasted for six performances, considered a ...

'' ** ''

The Capricious Lovers ''The Capricious Lovers'' is a 1725 comedy play by the British writer Gabriel Odingsells. The play revolves around a vain militia colonel.Freeman p.282 The original cast at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, Lincoln's Inn Fields included John Hippisle ...

'' *

Thomas Sheridan Thomas Sheridan may refer to: *Thomas Sheridan (divine) (1687–1738), Anglican divine *Thomas Sheridan (actor) (1719–1788), Irish actor and teacher of elocution *Thomas Sheridan (soldier) (1775–1817/18) *Thomas B. Sheridan (born 1931), America ...

– ''The Philoctetes of Sophocles''

Poetry

* Henry Baker – ''Original Poems'' *

Henry Carey Henry Carey may refer to: *Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon (1526–1596), politician, general, and potential illegitimate son of Henry VIII *Henry Carey, 1st Earl of Dover (1580–1666), English peer *Henry Carey, 2nd Earl of Monmouth (1596–1661), ...

– ''

Namby Pamby Namby-pamby is a term for affected, weak, and maudlin speech/verse. It originates from ''Namby Pamby'' (1725) by Henry Carey. Carey wrote his poem as a satire of Ambrose Philips and published it in his ''Poems on Several Occasions''. Its first ...

'' (satire on

Ambrose Philips Ambrose Philips (167418 June 1749) was an English poet and politician. He feuded with other poets of his time, resulting in Henry Carey bestowing the nickname " Namby-Pamby" upon him, which came to mean affected, weak, and maudlin speech or ver ...

) * Thomas Cooke – ''The Battle of the Poets'' (satire on

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

) * John Glanvill – ''Poems'' *

– ''The Odyssey of Homer'' vols. i–iii * Allan Ramsay – ''The Gentle Shepherd''

Births

February 5 Events Pre-1600 * 62 – Earthquake in Pompeii, Italy. * 1576 – Henry of Navarre abjures Catholicism at Tours and rejoins the Protestant forces in the French Wars of Religion. * 1597 – A group of early Japanese Christians ar ...

–

Anna Maria Rückerschöld Anna Maria Rückerschöld (5 February 1725 – 25 May 1805), born Rücker, was a Swedish author who wrote several popular books on housekeeping and cooking in the late 18th and early 19th century. She was an advocate of women's right to a good ed ...

, Swedish author (died 1805) *

February 12 Events Pre-1600 *1404 – The Italian professor Galeazzo di Santa Sophie performed the first post-mortem autopsy for the purposes of teaching and demonstration at the Heiligen–Geist Spital in Vienna. *1429 – English forces under ...

–

William Mason William, Willie, or Willy Mason may refer to: Arts and entertainment *William Mason (poet) (1724–1797), English poet, editor and gardener *William Mason (architect) (1810–1897), New Zealand architect *William Mason (composer) (1829–1908), Ame ...

, English poet and gardener (died 1797) *

March 22 Events Pre-1600 * 106 – Start of the Bostran era, the calendar of the province of Arabia Petraea. * 235 – Roman emperor Severus Alexander is murdered, marking the start of the Crisis of the Third Century. * 871 – Æthelr ...

–

Ignacy Nagurczewski Ignacy Nagurczewski (22 March 1725 – 1811) was a Polish writer, translator, educator, and Jesuit. He is known for translating Homer's ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'' into Polish. He was a lecturer at the prestigious '' Collegium Nobilium'' in Wa ...

, Polish writer and translator (died

1811 Events January–March * January 8 – An unsuccessful slave revolt is led by Charles Deslondes, in St. Charles and St. James Parishes, Louisiana. * January 17 – Mexican War of Independence – Battle of Calderón Brid ...

) *

April 2 Events Pre-1600 *1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Jo ...

–

Giacomo Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...

, Italian autobiographer and adventurer (died 1798) *

July 24 Events Pre-1600 * 1132 – Battle of Nocera between Ranulf II of Alife and Roger II of Sicily. * 1148 – Louis VII of France lays siege to Damascus during the Second Crusade. * 1304 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Sti ...

–

John Newton John Newton (; – 21 December 1807) was an English evangelical Anglican cleric and slavery abolitionist. He had previously been a captain of slave ships and an investor in the slave trade. He served as a sailor in the Royal Navy (after forc ...

, English hymnist, naval officer and cleric (died 1807) *

December 5 Events Pre-1600 * 63 BC – Cicero gives the fourth and final of the Catiline Orations. * 633 – Fourth Council of Toledo opens, presided over by Isidore of Seville. * 1033 – The Jordan Rift Valley earthquake destroys multipl ...

– Susanna Duncombe, English poet and artist (died

1812 Events January–March * January 1 – The ''Allgemeines bürgerliches Gesetzbuch'' (the Austrian civil code) enters into force in the Austrian Empire. * January 19 – Peninsular War: The French-held fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo Siege of ...

)

Deaths

January 6 Events Pre-1600 *1066 – Following the death of Edward the Confessor on the previous day, the Witan meets to confirm Harold Godwinson as the new King of England; Harold is crowned the same day, sparking a succession crisis that will eve ...

–

Chikamatsu Monzaemon was a Japanese dramatist of jōruri, the form of puppet theater that later came to be known as bunraku, and the live-actor drama, kabuki. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' has written that he is "widely regarded as the greatest Japanese dramatis ...

(近松門左衛門), Japanese dramatist (born 1653) *

January 26 Events Pre-1600 * 661 – The Rashidun Caliphate is effectively ended with the assassination of Ali, the last caliph. *1531 – The 6.4–7.1 1531 Lisbon earthquake, Lisbon earthquake kills about thirty thousand people. *1564 – ...

–

Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani Prince Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani ( ka, სულხან-საბა ორბელიანი ) (November 4, 1658 – January 26, 1725) was a Georgian writer and diplomat. Orbeliani is noted in part due to his important role as an emissary of ...

, Georgian prince and writer (born 1658) *

February 8 Events Pre-1600 * 421 – Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. * 1238 – The Mongols burn the Russian city of Vladimir. *1250 – Seventh Crusade: Crusaders engage Ayyubid forces in the Battle of Al ...

–

John Bellers John Bellers (1654 – 8 February 1725) was an English educational theorist and Quaker, author of ''Proposals for Raising a College of Industry of All Useful Trades and Husbandry'' (1695). Life Bellers was born in London, the son of the Quaker ...

, English writer and Quaker (born 1654) *

March 2 Events Pre-1600 * 537 – Siege of Rome: The Ostrogoth army under king Vitiges begins the siege of the capital. Belisarius conducts a delaying action outside the Flaminian Gate; he and a detachment of his ''bucellarii'' are almost cut o ...

–

Johan Peringskiöld Johan Peringskiöld (6 October 1654 – 24 March 1720) was a Swedish antiquarian. Biography Johan Peringer was born at Strängnäs in Södermanland County, Sweden. His father Lars Fredrik Peringer (1613-1687) was senior master at the gymnasi ...

, Swedish antiquary and translator (born

1689 Events January–March * January 22 (January 12, 1688 O.S.) – Glorious Revolution in England: The Convention Parliament is convened to determine if King James II of England, the last Roman Catholic British monarch, vacated th ...

) *

April 25 Events Pre-1600 * 404 BC – Admiral Lysander and King Pausanias of Sparta blockade Athens and bring the Peloponnesian War to a successful conclusion. * 775 – The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the ...

–

Paul de Rapin Paul de Rapin (25 March 1661 – 25 April 1725), sieur of Thoyras (and therefore styled de Rapin de Thoyras), was a Huguenot historian writing under English patronage. His ''History of England'', written and first published in French in 1724– ...

, French historian (born

1661 Events January–March * January 6 – The Fifth Monarchists, led by Thomas Venner, unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London; George Monck's regiment defeats them. * January 29 – The Rokeby baronets, a British ...

) *

June 29 Events Pre-1600 * 226 – Cao Rui succeeds his father as emperor of the Kingdom of Wei. *1149 – Raymond of Poitiers is defeated and killed at the Battle of Inab by Nur ad-Din Zangi. * 1194 – Sverre is crowned King of Norway, ...

–

Arai Hakuseki was a Confucianist, scholar-bureaucrat, academic, administrator, writer and politician in Japan during the middle of the Edo period, who advised the ''shōgun'' Tokugawa Ienobu. His personal name was Kinmi or Kimiyoshi (君美). Hakuseki (白� ...

, Japanese scholar-bureaucrat and writer (born 1657) *

September 5 Events Pre-1600 * 917 – Liu Yan declares himself emperor, establishing the Southern Han state in southern China, at his capital of Panyu. * 1367 – Swa Saw Ke becomes king of Ava * 1590 – Alexander Farnese's army forces Hen ...

–

Christian Wernicke Christian Wernicke (January 1661 – 5 September 1725) was a German epigramist and diplomat.

, German epigrammist (born

) *

December 7 Events Pre-1600 *43 BC – Cicero, Marcus Tullius Cicero is assassinated in Formia on orders of Marcus Antonius. * 574 – Byzantine Emperor Justin II, suffering recurring seizures of insanity, adopts his general Tiberius II Constant ...

–

Florent Carton Dancourt Florent Carton aka Dancourt (1 November 16617 December 1725), French dramatist and actor, was born at Fontainebleau. He belonged to a family of rank, and his parents entrusted his education to Pere de la Rue, a Jesuit, who made earnest efforts ...

, French dramatist and actor (born

) *''Unknown date'' –

Richard Fiddes Richard Fiddes (1671–1725) was an English Anglican priest and historian. Life He was born at Hunmanby and educated at Oxford University. He took orders, and obtained the living of Halsham in Holderness in 1696. Owing to ill-health he applied ...

, English historian and cleric (born 1671)

References

{{Year in literature article categories Years of the 18th century in literature