1711 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1711. Events March 1 – The periodical The Spectator is founded by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele in London. May 23 – Robert Harley, author, statesman and friend to the "Tory wits," who has been involved in Anne, Queen of Great Britain's ministry for some time, is created Earl of Oxford. July – After defeat at the Battle of Stănileşti during the Pruth River Campaign, Dimitrie Cantemir flees to Russia and begins writing his most important works. December – Charles Gildon becomes editor of The British Mercury. unknown date – The English fairy tale Jack the Giant-Killer appears in print for the first time. New books Prose Francis Atterbury – Representation of the State of Religion Richard Blackmore – The Nature of Man Pierre Boileau – The Works of Monsieur Boileau, vol. 1 (published by John Ozell) Laurent Bordelon – Gomgam, ou l'Homme prodigieux transporté dans l'air, sur la terre et sous les eaux (Gomgam, the remarkable man transported through the air, on the ground and under the water) Abel Boyer – The Political State of Great Britain Cornelis de Bruijn – Reizen over Moskovie, door Persie en Indie (Voyage to the Levant and Travels into Moscovy, Persia, and the East Indies) Jean Chardin – Voyages de monsieur le chevalier Chardin en Perse et autres lieux de l'orient (The Travels of Sir John Chardin in Persia and the Orient) Giuseppe Colombani – Unnamed treatise on the use of the spadone Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury – Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (also known as "Shaftesbury's Characteristics") Daniel Defoe The British Visions An Essay on the History of Parties An Essay on the South-Sea Trade The Present State of the Parties in Great Britain (attributed) The Secret History of the October Club John Dennis – Reflections Critical and Satyrical, Upon a Late Rhapsody call'd, An Essay upon Criticism (Dennis's counterattack on Alexander Pope) John Gay – The Present State of Wit (satirical answer to Defoe) William King – The History of the Heathen Gods George Mackenzie – Several Proposals Conducing to a Further Union of Britain Samuel Richter (Sincerus Renatus) – Theo-Philosophica Theoretica et Practica Richard Steele, Joseph Addison, Eustace Budgell, et al.