This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1744.
Events February 6 – Samuel Foote makes his debut as an actor as Othello at the Haymarket Theatre, London, England. February 15 – Spranger Barry makes his debut as an actor at the Theatre Royal, Dublin. April – The Female Spectator (a monthly) is founded by Eliza Haywood in England, the first periodical written for women by a woman. April 14 – The Physico-Historical Society is formed in Dublin for the preservation of 'manuscripts, rare printed books, and natural curiosities relating to Ireland'. May 29 – Alexander Pope is received into the Catholic Church, a day before his death.
New books Fiction Mary Collyer – Felicia to Charlotte Sarah Fielding – The Adventures of David Simple Eliza Haywood – The Fortunate Foundlings Edward Moore – Fables for the Female Sex Joseph Warton – The Enthusiast
Children John Newbery – A Little Pretty Pocket-Book Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book (earliest extant English nursery-rhyme collection)
Drama Robert Dodsley – A Select Collection of Old Plays William Havard – Regulus James Miller (died April 27) Joseph and his Brethren (music by Handel) Mahomet the Imposter (adapted from Voltaire's Mahomet; completed by John Hoadly) James Ralph – The Astrologer (adapted from Thomas Tomkis's Albumazar, itself adapted from Giambattista della Porta's L'astrologo) Antonio de Zamora – No hay deuda que no se pague y convidado de piedra
Poetry
Mark Akenside The Pleasures of the Imagination An Epistle to Curio Jane Brereton – Poems Gabriel Álvarez de Toledo (ed. Diego de Torres Villarroel) – Obras póstumas poéticas, con la Burromaquia
Non-fiction John Armstrong – The Art of Preserving Health George Berkeley – Siris Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix – Histoire et Description Generale de la Nouvelle France (History and General Description of New France) Émilie de Breteuil, marquise du Chatelet -Dissertation sur la nature et la propagation du feu Colley Cibber – Another Occasional Letter from Mr. Cibber to Mr. Pope David Garrick – An Essay on Acting (attrib.) Samuel Johnson Life of Mr Richard Savage An Account of the Life of John Philip Barretier Francis Moore – A Voyage to Georgia William Oldys (editor) – The Harleian Miscellany (introduction by Samuel Johnson) Alexander Pope – Essay on Man, volume 4: "Epistle: Of the Nature and State of Man, with Respect to" (4) "Happiness" (the first 2 epistles were written in 1732 and the third in 1733). John Ranby – The Method of Treating Gunshot Wounds Emanuel Swedenborg – The Animal Kingdom (Soul's Domain) (1744–45) Jonathan Swift – Three Sermons
Births January 29 – Catharina Charlotta Swedenmarck, Swedish writer (died 1813) February 10 – William Mitford, English historian (died 1827) April 11 (baptised) – Elizabeth Bonhôte, English novelist, essayist and poet (died 1818) August 25 – Johann Gottfried Herder, German poet (died 1803) December – Elsa Fougt, Swedish editor and publisher (died 1826)
Deaths January 28 – Thomas Innes, Scottish historian (born 1662) January 23 – Thomas Griffith, Irish actor and theatre manager (born 1680) March 31 – Antiochus Kantemir, Russian diplomat and writer (born 1708) April 27 – James Miller, English playwright, poet and satirist (born 1704) May 30 – Alexander Pope, English poet and satirist (born 1688) September 18 – Lewis Theobald, English literary historian (born 1688)
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