This article is a summary of the major literary events and publications of 1734.
Events January – Le Cabinet du Philosophe, a new periodical by Pierre de Marivaux, is unsuccessfully launched; it is discontinued in April. June 10 – Copies of Voltaire's Lettres philosophiques sur les Anglais (Letters on the English) are burned, and a warrant is issued for the author's arrest. November – George Faulkner begins publication of an edition of Jonathan Swift's Works in Dublin with a corrected text. Manoel da Assumpcam begins writing his grammar of the Bengali language. Göttingen State and University Library is established.
New books Fiction Pierre de Marivaux – Le Paysan parvenu (The Fortunate Peasant) part one
Drama Henry Carey, as "Benjamin Bounce" – Chrononhotonthologos (satire on bombastic tragedy) William Duncombe – Junius Brutus Henry Fielding Don Quixote in England The Intriguing Chambermaid Carlo Goldoni – Belisario John Hewitt – Fatal Falsehood James Miller – The Mother-in-Law (adapted from Molière'''s Le Malade imaginaire and Monsieur de Pourceaugnac) William Popple – The Lady's RevengeJames Ralph – The Cornish SquireAntónio José da Silva – EsopaidaJames Thomson – The Tragedy of SophonisbaPoetry
Jean Adam – Miscellany PoemsMary Barber – PoemsStephen Duck – Truth and FalsehoodWilliam DunkinThe Lover's WebThe Poet's PrayerAlexander PopeEssay on ManAn Epistle to Lord Cobham ("Moral Epistle I")The First Satire of the Second Book of HoraceSober Advice from HoraceJonathan Swift – A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to BedNon-fiction Anonymous – A Rap at the Rhapsody (on Swift's 1733 On Poetry) Joseph Addison (died 1719) – A Discourse on Antient and Modern LearningJohn Arbuthnot – Gnothi Seauton: Know YourselfFrancis Atterbury – SermonsGeorge Berkeley – The AnalystHenry Brooke – Design and Beauty: an EpistleIsaac Hawkins Browne – On Design and BeautyDimitrie Cantemir – History of the Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire (first publication) Robert Dodsley – An Epistle to Mr. PopeJohn Jortin – Remarks on Spenser's PoemsLady Mary Wortley Montagu – The Dean's Provocation for Writing the Lady's Dressing-Room (on Swift's "The Lady's Dressing Room") Karl Ludwig von Pöllnitz – MémoiresJonathan Richardson – Explanatory Notes on Milton's Paradise LostGeorge Sale – The KoranEmanuel SwedenborgFirst Principles of Natural ThingsOpera philosophica et mineraliaThe Infinite and the Final Cause of CreationJoseph Trapp – Thoughts Upon the Four Last Things ("Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell") Voltaire – Lettres anglaisesBirths January 10 – Fleury Mesplet, French-born Canadian writer and newspaper publisher (died 1794 July 25 – Ueda Akinari, Japanese poet and novelist (died 1809) October 23 – Nicolas-Edme Rétif, French novelist (died 1806) December 31 – Claude Joseph Dorat (Le Chevalier Dorat), French writer (died 1780)Unknown dates'' Catharina Ahlgren, Swedish writer (died 1800) Robert Aitken, Scottish-born American printer and publisher (died 1802)
Deaths January 6 – John Dennis, English dramatist and critic (born 1658) February 24 – Marie-Jeanne L'Héritier, French writer of fairy tales and salonnière (born 1664) March 1 – Roger North, English biographer and lawyer (born 1653) April 25 – Johann Konrad Dippel, German theologian (born 1673) May – Richard Cantillon, Irish-born French economist (born 1680) September 17 – Thomas Fuller, English man of letters and proverb collector (born 1654) October – Thomas Lloyd, Welsh lexicographer (born c. 1673) October 18 – James Moore Smythe, English dramatist and fop (born 1702)
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