1703 in literature
Events from the year 1703 in literature.
Events
- July 29–31 – Daniel Defoe is pilloried at Temple Bar, London, as part of a sentence for seditious libel, after publishing his satirical pamphlet The Shortest Way with the Dissenters. He is released from Newgate Prison in mid-November.
- unknown date – Richard Mead is appointed physician at St Thomas's Hospital, London.
New books
Prose
- Joseph Addison – A Letter from Italy
- Abel Boyer – The History of the Reign of Queen Anne
- Gilbert Burnet – A Third Collection of Several Tracts and Discourses
- Edmund Calamy – A Defence of Moderate Non-Conformity
- Jeremy Collier – Mr Collier's Dissuasive from the Play-House
- William Dampier – A Voyage to New Holland, &c. in the Year 1699
- Daniel Defoe
- *A Brief Explanation of a Late Pamphlet, entitled, The Shortest Way with the Dissenters
- *A Dialogue Between a Dissenter and the Observator
- *A Hymn to the Funeral Sermon
- *Hymn to the Pillory
- *More Reformation: A satyr upon himself
- *The Shortest Way to Peace and Union
- *A True Collection of the Writings of the Author of the True-Born English-man
- John Dunton – The Shortest Way with Whores and Rogues
- Thomas Hearne – Reliquiae Bodleianae
- George Hickes – Linguarum veterum septentrionalium thesaurus grammatico-criticus et archæologicus
- Benjamin Hoadly – The Reasonableness of Conformity to the Church of England
- Louis-Armand de Lom d'Arce de Lahontan, Baron de Lahontan – New Voyages to North America
- Bernard de Mandeville – Some Fables After the Easie and Familiar Method of Monsieur de la Fontaine
- Leonty Magnitsky – Arithmetic
- Henry Maundrell – A Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem at Easter A.D. 1697
- Ned Ward – The Secret History of the Calves-head Clubb
- Benjamin Whichcote – ''Moral and Religious Aphorisms''
Drama
- Thomas Baker – Tunbridge Walks
- Charles Boyle – As You Find It
- Marie-Anne Barbier – Cornélie, mère des Gracques
- William Burnaby – Love Betrayed
- Susanna Centlivre – Love's Contrivance
- Chikamatsu Monzaemon – The Love Suicides at Sonezaki
- Thomas d'Urfey – The Old Mode and the New
- Richard Estcourt – The Fair Example
- Charles Gildon – The Patriot
- John Oldmixon – The Governour of Cyprus
- Mary Pix – The Different Widows
- Nicholas Rowe – The Fair Penitent
- Richard Steele – The Lying Lover
- William Walker – Marry, or Do Worse
- Richard Wilkinson – ''Vice Reclaimed''
Poetry
- Lady Mary Chudleigh – Poems on Several Occasions
- William Congreve
- *A Hymn to Harmony
- *The Tears of Amaryllis for Amyntas
- Sarah Fyge Egerton – Poems on Several Occasions
- Pavao Ritter Vitezović – Plorantis Croatiae saecula duo
- ''See also 1703 in poetry''
Births
- March 23 – Cajsa Warg, Swedish cookbook author
- May 18 – İbrahim Hakkı Erzurumi, Turkish Sufi philosopher
- June 28 – John Wesley, English writer of sermons and hymns
- October 5 – Jonathan Edwards, American theologian
- November 26 – Theophilus Cibber, English playwright
- unknown dates
- *Henry Brooke, Irish novelist and dramatist
- *Charles Clémencet, French historian
- *Thomas Cooke, English writer and translator
- *John Ranby, English surgeon and writer on surgery
- *Ando Shoeki, Japanese philosopher
- *Gilbert West, English poet and translator
Deaths
- January 11 – Johann Georg Graevius, German critic
- February 17 – Philippe Goibaud-Dubois, French translator
- March 3 – Robert Hooke, English natural philosopher
- March 5 – Gabrielle Suchon, French moral philosopher
- April 20 – Lancelot Addison, English writer and cleric
- May 8 – Vincent Alsop, English religious writer and wit
- May 16 – Charles Perrault, French writer of fairy tales
- May 26 – Samuel Pepys, English diarist
- August 21 – Thomas Tryon, English self-help author
- September 29 – Charles de Saint-Évremond, French essayist and literary critic
- unknown date – Samuel Johnson, English pamphleteer