This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1747.

Events March 31 – Laurence Sterne preaches the Good Friday sermon at St Helen Stonegate; The Case of Elijah and the Widow of Zerephath is later printed and published.St Helen Stonegate: Laurence Sterne and the Good Humour Club . Accessed 27 March 2016. April 9 – David Garrick becomes joint patentee and manager of the Drury Lane Theatre in London.

December 1 – Samuel Richardson's two-volume epistolary novel Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady ("by the Editor of Pamela") begins publication in London from his own print shop, dated 1748. unknown date – The Załuski Library in Warsaw is opened to the public.

New books Prose William Blackstone (attributed) – The Pantheon Thomas Carte – A General History of England Juan de Iriarte – Discurso sobre la imperfección de los diccionarios Diego de Torres Villarroel – Desengaños razonables para sacudir el polvo del espanto Denis Diderot – La Promenade du sceptique (completed; not published until 1830) William Dunkin – Boetia Thomas Edward – A Supplement to Mr. Warburton's Edition of Shakespear Henry Fielding, as "John Trott Plaid" – The Jacobite's Journal (periodical) Sarah Fielding – Familiar Letters Between the Principal Characters in David Simple (a defense against unauthorized continuations) Samuel Foote – The Roman and English Comedy Consider'd Hannah Glasse, as "A Lady" – The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy Madame de Graffigny – Lettres d'une Péruvienne Henry Home, Lord Kames – Essays Upon Several Subjects Concerning British Antiquities Samuel Johnson – The Plan of a Dictionary of the English Language David Mallet – Amyntor and Theodora William Memoth, the younger – The Letters of Pliny the Consul Josiah Ralph – A Miscellany Samuel Richardson – Clarissa vol. i–ii William Shakespeare – The Works of Shakespear (edited by William Warburton) Tobias Smollett – Reproof Joseph Spence – Polymetis Voltaire – Zadig (in original form as Memnon) Horace Walpole – A Letter to the Whigs Joseph Warton – Ranelagh House Thomas Warton – The Pleasures of Melancholy

Drama John Cunningham – Love in a Mist Samuel Foote – The Diversions of the Morning or, A Dish of Chocolate David Garrick – Miss in Her Teens Christian Fürchtegott Gellert – Die zärtlichen Schwestern (The Affectionate Sisters) Carlo Goldoni – The Venetian Twins (I due gemelli veneziani) Benjamin Hoadly – The Suspicious Husband Edward Moore – The Foundling Takeda Izumo II, Miyoshi Shōraku and Namiki Senryū I – Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura (義経千本桜, Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees, original version for bunraku puppet theatre)

Poetry

Philip Francis – A Poetical Translation of the Works of Horace Charlotte Lennox – Poems William Mason – Musaeus: A monody to the memory of Pope (an imitation of Milton's Lycidas) Lady Mary Wortley Montagu – Six Town Eclogues

Births January 11 – François Alexandre Frédéric, duc de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, French economics writer (died 1827) January 12 – Susanna Blamire, English dialect poet and songwriter (died 1794) January 15 – John Aikin, English biographer, activist and physician (died 1822) January 26 – Samuel Parr, English schoolmaster and writer, "the Whig Johnson" (died 1825) January – William Seward, English man of letters (died 1799) February 19 – John "Walking" Stewart, English traveller and philosopher (died 1822) March 10 – Iolo Morganwg, Welsh antiquarian, bookseller, poet and literary forger (died 1826) September 30 – John Mastin, English memoirist, local historian and cleric (died 1829) December 12 – Anna Seward, English poet (died 1809) Unknown date John Edwards (1747–1792), Welsh poet (died 1792) Thomas Scott, English cleric and religious writer (died 1821)

Deaths January 16 – Barthold Heinrich Brockes German poet (born 1680) May 28 – Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues, essayist (born 1715) August Charles Fleetwood, manager of Drury Lane Theatre (year of birth unknown) Leonard Welsted, English poet (born 1688)James Sambrook: The life of the English poet Leonard Welsted (1688 – 1747) : the culture and politics of Britain's eighteenth-century literary wars, Lewiston [u.a.] : Edwin Mellen Press, 2014, September 7 – Michel Maittaire, French classical scholar, bibliographer and grammarian (born 1668) November 17 – Alain-René Le Sage, French novelist and playwright (born 1668) November 21 – Robert Mylne, Scottish antiquarian and writer (born 1643) November 22 – Joseph Trapp, poet, controversialist and translator (born 1679) December 23 – Étienne-François Avisse, French dramatist (born 1694)

References