This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1776.
Events January 8 – The English actor John Philip Kemble makes his stage début, as Theodosius in Nathaniel Lee's eponymous tragedy, at Wolverhampton, England, with the Crump and Chamberlain company. August 7 – David Hume, weeks before his death, adds a codicil to his will, giving instructions for the publication of the Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion, on which he has been working since 1750. unknown dates – The Wenyuan Chamber is built in China as an imperial library in the Forbidden City of Beijing.
New books Fiction Elizabeth Griffith – The Story of Lady Juliana Harley Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi – Edward Allwill's Briefsammlung Ignacy Krasicki – The Adventures of Mr. Nicholas Wisdom (Mikołaja Doświadczyńskiego przypadki) (first novel in Polish) Samuel Jackson Pratt (as Courtney Melmoth) – The Pupil of Pleasure, or, The New System (Lord Chesterfield's) Illustrated
Drama George Edward Ayscough (adapted from Voltaire) – Semiramis Hannah Cowley – The Runaway Samuel Foote – The Bankrupt Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – Stella (first version) Friedrich Maximilian Klinger – Sturm und Drang Johann Anton Leisewitz – Julius of Taranto (first performed) Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz – The Soldiers (Die Soldaten) Arthur Murphy – Three Weeks After Marriage Heinrich Leopold Wagner – Die Kindermörderin Lope de Vega (ed. Antonio de Sancha) – Obras sueltas
Poetry
James Beattie – Poems Richard Graves – Euphrosyne Hannah More – Sir Eldred of the Bower, and The Bleeding Rock Jonathan Richardson – Morning Thoughts John Scott – Amwell Augustus Montague Toplady – Psalms and Hymns William Whitehead – Variety Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos – Jovino a sus amigos de Salamanca
Non-fiction John Adams – Thoughts on Government James Beattie – Essays Jeremy Bentham – Fragment on Government Charles Burney – A General History of Music (completed 1789) George Campbell – The Philosophy of Rhetoric David Dalrymple – Annals of Scotland Edward Gibbon – The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, volume 1 Oliver Goldsmith – A Survey of Experimental Philosophy Sir John Hawkins – A General History of the Science and Practice of Music David Herd – Ancient and Modern Scottish Songs Soame Jenyns – A View of the Internal Evidence of the Christian Religion Thomas Paine Common Sense The American Crisis Richard Price – Observations on the Nature of Civil Liberty Adam Smith – An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Births January – Frances Burney, English dramatist (died 1828) January 17 – Jane Porter, Scottish novelist and dramatist (died 1850) January 24 – E. T. A. Hoffmann, German fantasy and horror writer (died 1822) January 25 – Joseph Görres, German writer, philosopher and theologian (died 1848) February 12 – Richard Mant, English writer and cleric (died 1848) March 9 – Archibald Bell, Scottish lawyer and miscellanist (died 1854) April 13 – Wilhelm von Schütz, German author and playwright (died 1847) July 1 – Sophie Gay, French author (died 1852) September 21 – John Fitchett, English epic poet (died 1838) September 27 – Maria Versfelt, Dutch actress and memoirist (died 1845) November 16 – Mary Matilda Betham, English diarist, scholar and poet (died 1852) November 20 – William Blackwood, Scottish publisher (died 1834)
Deaths April 29 – Edward Wortley Montagu, English travel writer (born 1713) May 23 – Jeanne Julie Éléonore de Lespinasse (Mademoiselle de Lespinasse), French salonnière (born 1732) May 30 – Albert Frick, German theologian (born 1732) June 2 – Robert Foulis, Scottish art critic and publisher (born 1707) August 25 – David Hume, Scottish philosopher, historian and economist (born 1711) October 17 – Pierre François le Courayer, French theologian (born 1681)
References
External links 1776 Books at Goodreads