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Samuel Richardson, Pamela is published
Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded was published anonymously in two volumes in November 1740 and soon turned into what we nowadays call a "best-seller," the first example of that phenomenon in the history of English fiction.
A revised edition with a lengthy introduction was published in February 1741, and three further revised editions were published that same year. -
Henry Fielding's "Shamela" is published
An Apology for the Life of Mrs. Shamela Andrews, or simply Shamela, as it is more commonly known, is a satirical novel written by Henry Fielding and first published in April 1741 under the name of Mr. Conny Keyber. Fielding never owned to writing the work, but it is widely considered to be his. It is a direct attack on the then-popular novel Pamela (November 1740) by Fielding's contemporary and rival Samuel Richardson and is composed, like Pamela, in epistolary form. -
Henry Fielding's "Joseph Andrews" is published
The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and of his Friend Mr. Abraham Adams," was the first published full-length novel of the English author and magistrate Henry Fielding, and indeed among the first novels in the English language.
The novel represents the coming together of the two competing aesthetics of eighteenth-century literature: the mock-heroic and neoclassical (and, by extension, aristocratic) approach of Augustans. -
Robert Walpole's Fall
Becoming unpopular after his poor handling in "The War of Jenkin's Ear" with Spain, Walpole resignes to his position of Prime Minister in the House of Commons. -
Alexander Pope's "The Dunciad"
The final, revised version of "The Dunciad" is published. Pope adds Book IV which can function as a separate piece or as the conclusion of the Dunciad: in many ways its structure and tone are substantially different from the first three books, and it is much more allegorical. In this version, Pope replaced Theobald with Cibber as the work’s dubious hero. -
Henry Pelham becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain
Walpole's protegé and 1st Lord of the Treasury. He pursued Walpolean policies: fiscal restraint, unenterprising legislation, preserving a Whig monopoly of power, and the status quo of the Church. He served as Minister until his death in 1754. -
Death of Alexander Pope
He died at Twickenham, England. He is believed to have suffered from poor health caused by asthma and tuberculosis. -
Death of Jonathan Swift
Irish satirist Jonathan Swift best known for his "Gulliver's Travels" and "A Modest Proposal," dies at the age of 77. -
Jacobite Rising of 1745
Charles Edward Stuart, "the Young Pretender" attempted to regain the British throne for the exiled House of Stuart. -
Battle of Culloden
A struggle between the two royal houses: The house of Stuart and the house of Hanover. It was the final battle of the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. -
Act of Proscription 1746
It was part of a series of efforts to disarm and control the Scottish Highlands, ending their ability to revolt, and the first of the 'King's laws' which sought to crush the Clan system in the aftermath of the Jacobite Rising of 'Forty-Five. These laws were finally repealed on 1 July 1782. -
Tobias Smollett writes "The Tears of Scotland"
A poem written as a condemnation of Cumberland's treatment of the Highlanders after Culloden in 1746. -
London Lock Hospital is founded
The first venereal disease clinic and the most famous and first of the Lock Hospitals. The Lock Hospitals were developed for the treatment of syphilis. -
Samuel Richardson's "Clarissa" is published
Richardson's second epistolary novel presents the story of the tragic heroine, Clarissa Harlowe, a young lady whose quest for virtue is continually thwarted by the wickedness of her family and Lovelace. -
Lord Lovat beheaded on Tower Hill
Lovat was among the Highlanders defeated at the Battle of Culloden and convicted of treason against the Crown. He was the last man in Britain to be beheaded on Tower Hill, London. -
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
The treaty ended the The War of the Austrian Succession or King George's War. No more than a truce, France and England agreed to restore the conquests they had made. In the commercial struggle between Britain and France in the West Indies, Africa, and India, nothing was settled; the treaty was thus no basis for a lasting peace. -
William Cleland's "Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure" Vol 1 is published
Written while the author was in debtor's prison in London, "Fanny Hill," is an erotic novel. It is the most prosecuted and banned books in history, and has become a synonym for obscenity. -
Henry Fielding's "Tom Jones" published
Fielding's comic novel, divided into 18 books, is both one of the great comic masterpieces of English literature and a major force in the development of the novel form.
