1768 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1768.
Events
- March – John Wilkes, returning from exile in France, is elected to the Parliament of Great Britain.
- May 10 – John Wilkes is imprisoned for attacking King George III of Great Britain in print.
- July 28 – Thomas Gray succeeds Lawrence Brockett as Regis Professor of History at the University of Cambridge.
- December 12 – Walter Butler, 16th Earl of Ormonde, father of Lady Eleanor Butler, inherits Kilkenny Castle in Ireland. This brings about the first meeting of the Ladies of Llangollen.
- unknown dates
- *John Murray (publisher) is established in London.
- *The Theatre Royal, Bath and Theatre Royal, Norwich assume these titles on being granted Royal Patents, making them officially England's only legal provincial theaters.
- *The Leeds Library is founded, becoming the oldest surviving subscription library of its type in Britain.
New books
Fiction
- John Cleland – The Woman of Honour
- Alexander Dow – Tales Translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi
- Voltaire – La Princesse de Babylone
- José Francisco de Isla – Historia del famoso predicador fray Gerundio de Campazas, alias Zotes
- Anonymous – Fumoto no iro
Children
- Christopher Smart – ''Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ''
Drama
- Isaac Bickerstaffe
- *Lionel and Clarissa
- *The Hypocrite
- *The Padlock
- Alexander Dow – Zingis
- Samuel Foote – The Devil on Two Sticks
- Oliver Goldsmith – The Good-Natur'd Man
- John Hoole – Cyrus
- Hugh Kelly – False Delicacy
- Arthur Murphy – Zenobia
- Michel-Jean Sedaine – La gageure imprévue
- Heinrich Wilhelm von Gerstenberg – Ugolino
- Horace Walpole – The Mysterious Mother
- William Shakespeare, ed. Edward Capell – ''Mr. William Shakespeare His Comedies, Histories and Tragedies''
Poetry
- Isaac Hawking Browne – Poems
- Thomas Gray – Poems
- Richard Jago – Labour and Genius
- Edward Jerningham – Amabella
- Mary Wortley Montagu – Poetical Works
- Henry James Pye – Elegies
- Alexander Ross – The Fortunate Shepherdess
- Christopher Smart – The Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
- William Wilkie – ''Fables''
Non-fiction
- Abraham Booth – The Reign of Grace
- James Boswell – An Account of Corsica
- William Gilpin – An Essay upon Prints, containing remarks upon the principles of picturesque beauty
- Oliver Goldsmith – The Present State of the British Empire in Europe, America, Africa, and Asia
- Richard Gough – Anecdotes of British Topography
- Joseph Priestley – An Essay on the First Principles of Government
- Tobias Smollett – The Present State of all Nations
- Laurence Sterne – A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy
- Gilbert Stuart – An Historical Dissertation Concerning the Antiquity of the English Constitution
- Emanuel Swedenborg – Deliciae Sapientiae de Amore Conjugiali
- Abraham Tucker – The Light of Nature Pursued
- Horace Walpole – Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard III
- Arthur Young – ''A Six Weeks' Tour Through the Southern Counties of England and Wales''
Births
- March 22 – Melesina Trench, Irish-born writer and socialite
- September 4 – François-René de Chateaubriand, French writer and diplomat
- November 21 – Friedrich Schleiermacher, German theologian
Deaths
- March 1 – Hermann Samuel Reimarus, German philosopher
- March 18 – Laurence Sterne, Irish-born novelist and cleric
- April 9 – Sarah Fielding, English novelist and children's author
- May 30 – Eggert Ólafsson, Icelandic writer and linguist
- July 4 – Willem van Haren, Dutch poet
- August 20 – Joseph Spence, English memoirist and professor of poetry
- November 25 – Alexander Russell, Scottish physician and naturalist
- December 20 – Carlo Innocenzio Maria Frugoni, Italian poet