1750 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1750.
Events
- March – The Rambler is founded by Edward Cave; it lasts for 208 issues, and is mostly written by Samuel Johnson.
- March 5 – Shakespeare's Richard II is presented at their theatre on Nassau Street (Manhattan) by Walter Murray and Thomas Kean, the earliest known significant professional performance of Shakespeare in North America.
- unknown dates
- *Weekly meetings for contributors to the Encyclopédie begin, at the salon of Baron d'Holbach.
- *Jean-Jacques Rousseau wins the prize of the Academy of Dijon for his Discourse on the Arts and Sciences.
- *London theatres wage "the Romeo and Juliet war" – competing productions appear with David Garrick and Anne Bellamy at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and with Spranger Barry and Susannah Cibber at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.
- *Old Orchard Street Theatre opens in Bath (England) under the management of John Palmer, with a performance of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 2.
- *Carlo Goldoni commits himself to writing a comedy for each week of the 1750–1751 seasons at Gerolamo Medebach's Teatro San Angelo in Venice – 16 plays.
- After taking an M.D. at Aberdeen, Tobias Smollett travels in France, collecting material for The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle.
New books
Fiction
- Anonymous
- *'
- *'
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- Henry Brooke – A New Collection of Fairy Tales
- John Cleland – Fanny Hill
- Sarah Fielding – The History of Charlotte Summers
- Edward Kimber – The Life and Adventures of Joe Thompson
- Charlotte Lennox – The Life of Harriot Stuart
- Robert Paltock – The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins
- Sarah Scott – ''The History of Cornelia''
Drama
- Kitty Clive – The Rehearsal, or, Bays in Petticoats
- Carlo Goldoni
- *La Bottega di Caffe
- *Il bugiardo
- *I pettegolezzi delle donne
- *Il teatro comico
- *Il vero amico
- William Shirley – Edward the Black Prince
- Voltaire – Oreste
- William Whitehead – ''The Roman Father''
Poetry
- William Collins – The Passions
- Thomas Cooke – An Ode on Martial Virtue
- Robert Dodsley – The Oeconomy of Human Life
- Mary Jones – Miscellanies
- Thomas Warton – The Triumph of Isis
- Edward Young – ''The Complaint''
Non-fiction
- John Barrow – Navigatio Britannica
- William Blackstone – An Essay on Collateral Consanguinity
- Samuel Bownas – A Description of the Qualifications Necessary to a Gospel Minister
- John Campbell – The Present State of Europe
- Zachary Grey – A Free and Familiar Letter to William Warburton
- Eliza Haywood – A Present for Women Addicted to Drinking
- Francis Hutcheson – Reflections Upon Laughter
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau – Discourse on the Arts and Sciences
- George Savile, 1st Marquess of Halifax, edited by Alexander Pope – A Character of King Charles the Second: and political, moral and miscellaneous thoughts and reflections
- Laurence Sterne – The Abuses of Conscience
- Madeleine de Puisieux – ''La Femme n’est pas inférieure à l'homme''
Births
- January 7 – Robert Anderson, Scottish critic
- June 13 – James Burney, English rear-admiral and naval writer
- September 5 – Robert Fergusson, Scottish poet writing in Braid Scots
- October 21 – Juraj Fándly, Slovak non-fiction writer, entomologist and priest
- October 31 – Leonor de Almeida Portugal, 4th Marquise of Alorna, Portuguese noblewoman, painter, and poet
- unknown date – Henrietta Maria Bowdler, English author and expurgator
Deaths
- February 8 – Aaron Hill, English dramatist
- May 3 – John Willison, Scottish Christian writer
- June 15 – Marguerite De Launay, Baronne Staal, French writer
- November 11 – Apostolo Zeno, Venetian poet and journalist
- November 18 – Susanna Highmore, English poet