1720 in literature

This article is a summary of the major literary events and publications of 1720. Events September–October – The "South Sea Bubble", i.e. the collapse of the South Sea Company in England, affects the fortunes of many writers, including John Gay. It features in several works of literature. There are suspicions of complicity by Robert Walpole's government. December 29 – The Haymarket Theatre in London opens with a performance of La Fille à la Morte, ou le Badeaut de Paris. unknown date Jonathan Swift begins major composition work on Gulliver's Travels in Ireland. 18-year-old London apprentice printer John Matthews is hanged for treason for producing the anonymous Jacobite pamphlet Vox Populi Vox Dei, the last time a British printer suffers execution for his work. New books Prose Thomas Boston – Human Nature in its Fourfold State Jane Brereton – An expostulatory Epistle to Sir Richard Steele upon the Death of Mr. Addison Thomas Brown – The Remains of Mr. Thomas Brown Josiah Burchett – A Complete History of the Most Remarkable Transactions at Sea William Rufus Chetwood – The Voyages, Dangerous Adventures, and Miraculous Escapes of Capt. Richard Falconer Samuel Croxall – The Fair Circassian Daniel Defoe Captain Singleton Memoirs of a Cavalier Serious Reflections During the Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe: With his Vision of the Angelick World Charles Gildon – All for the Better (fiction) Thomas Hearne – A Collection of Curious Discourses Aaron Hill – The Creation Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon – The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in Ireland Hildebrand Jacob – The Curious Maid Madame de La Fayette – Histoire d'Henriette d'Angleterre Delarivière Manley – The Power of Love (novels) Alexander Pennecuik – Streams From Hellicon Alexander Pope – The Iliad of Homer v, vi Richard Rawlinson – The English Topographer Martha Sansom – The Epistles of Clio and Strephon George Sewell – A New Collection of Original Poems Richard Steele The Crisis of Property A Nation a Family Jonathan Swift – A Proposal for the Universal Use of Irish Manufacture William Temple – The Works of Sir William Temple Simon Tyssot de Patot – La Vie, les Aventures et le Voyage de Groenland du Révérend Père Cordelier Pierre de Mésange Ned Ward – The Delights of the Bottle