1783 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1783. Events April 14 – Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's drama Nathan der Weise receives its first professional performance, in Berlin. May 6 – William Cobbett arrives in London to work, and later in the year joins the 54th (West Norfolk) Regiment of Foot. September – Friedrich Schiller, having left Stuttgart for Weimar to avoid persecution, becomes resident dramatist at Mannheim. November 18 – August von Kotzebue leaves St Petersburg to take up a position with the high court of appeal in Reval, then subject to the Russian Empire. New books Fiction Rhijnvis Feith – Julia Thomas Holcroft – The Family Picture Sophia Lee – The Recess Johann Karl August Musäus – Volksmärchen der Deutschen (second volume) Clara Reeve – The Two Mentors