1732 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1732.
Events
- April – The London Magazine is founded in opposition to the pro-Tory Gentlemen's Magazine.
- December 7 – The original Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, London is opened by John Rich with a revival of William Congreve's The Way of the World.
- December 13 – The first issue of Then Swänska Argus, by Olof von Dalin, is published in Sweden, introducing the "younger new Swedish" literary language.
- December 28 – The first edition of Poor Richard's Almanack, by Benjamin Franklin, is published in America.
- unknown date – Trinity College Library in Dublin, designed by Thomas Burgh, is completed.
New books
Prose
- George Berkeley – Alciphron
- Johann Jakob Bodmer – translation of John Milton's Paradise Lost into German prose
- Elizabeth Boyd – The Happy-Unfortunate
- Mary Davys – The False Friend
- Philip Doddridge – Sermons on the Religious Education of Children
- Robert Dodsley – A Muse in Livery
- George Granville, Lord Lansdowne – The Genuine Works
- Thomas-Simon Gueullette – Les Sultanes de Guzarate, contes mogols
- John Horsley – Britannia Romana, or The Roman Antiquities of Britain
- William King – The Toast
- Alain-René Lesage – Les avantures de monsieur Robert Chevalier, dit de Beauchêne, capitaine de flibustiers dans la Nouvelle-France
- George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton – The Progress of Love
- Daniel Neal – The History of the Puritans or Protestant Non-Conformists
- Richard Savage – An Epistle to the Right Honourable Sir Robert Walpole
- Philip Skippon – An Account of a Journey Made Thro ̓ Part of the Low-Countries, Germany, Italy, and France
- Jonathan Swift
- *The Lady's Dressing Room
- *The Grand Question Debated
- * Miscellanies: The Third Volume
- Isaac Watts – A Short View of the Whole Scripture History
- Leonard Welsted – Of Dulness and Scandal
- Gilbert West – Stowe
- Martín Sarmiento – ''Demostración apologética''
Drama
- Henry Carey
- *Amelia
- *The Disappointment
- *Terminta
- Henry Fielding
- *The Lottery
- *The Modern Husband
- *The Covent-Garden Tragedy
- *The Old Debauchees
- *The Mock Doctor
- John Gay – Acis and Galatea
- Charles Johnson – Caelia
- John Kelly – The Married Philosopher
- Pierre de Marivaux – The Triumph of Love
- James Miller – The Modish Couple
- Voltaire – ''Zaïre''
Poetry
- Heyat Mahmud – Sarbabhedbāṇī; Bengali
- John Milton – Milton's Paradise Lost, edited by Richard Bentley
Births
- January 6 – Matija Antun Relković, Croatian grammarian and poet
- January 24 – Pierre de Beaumarchais, French writer
- February – Charles Churchill, English satirist and poet
- February 19 – Richard Cumberland, English dramatist
- April – George Colman the Elder, English dramatist and essayist
- August 24 – Peter Ernst Wilde, German physician, journalist and printer
- September 29 – Samuel Musgrave, English classical scholar and pamphleteer
Deaths
- February 13 – Charles-René d'Hozier, French historian
- February 22 – Bishop Francis Atterbury, English politician and writer
- March 20 – Johann Ernst Hanxleden, German poet and lexicographer
- March 29 ' – Jane Barker, English dramatist and poet
- May 9 – Samuel Palmer, English printer
- July 3 ' – Mary Davys, Irish poet and dramatist
- December 2 – Constantia Grierson, Irish poet and classical scholar
- December 4 – John Gay, English poet and dramatist
- December 22 – Joseph Thurston, English poet