List of years in literature       (table)
… 1772 .  1773 .  1774 .  1775  . 1776  . 1777  . 1778 … 1779 1780 1781 -1782- 1783 1784 1785 … 1786 .  1787 .  1788 .  1789  . 1790  . 1791  . 1792 …      In poetry: 1779 1780 1781 -1782- 1783 1784 1785
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… 1779 . 1780 . 1781 - 1782 - 1783 . 1784 . 1785 … … 1750s . 1760s . 1770s -1780s- 1790s . 1800s . 1810s … … 17th century . 18th century . 19th century …
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Contents 1 Events 2 New books 3 New drama 3.1 Poetry 3.2 Non-fiction 4 Births 5 Deaths

Events

• The Spanish take Minorca.
• In the American Revolution, the Battle of the Saints results in a British victory for the battle.
• William Blake first meets his patron, John Flaxman.

New books

• Elizabeth Blower - George Bateman
• Fanny Burney - Cecilia
• J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur - Letters from an American Farmer
• Pierre Choderlos de Laclos - Les liaisons dangereuses
• Betje Wolff - Historie van mejuffrouw Sara Burgerhart

New drama

• Hannah Cowley - The Belle's Stratagem
• Denis Fonvizin - The Minor

Poetry

• William Cowper
  • The Diverting History of John Gilpin
  • Verses Supposed to be Written by Alexander Selkirk
  • Poems
• John Freeth]] - Modern Songs
• William Hayley - An Essay on Epic Poetry in Five Epistles to Mason
• William Mason
  • An Archaeological Epistle to Jeremiah Milles....
  • King Stephen's Watch
• Hannah More - Sacred Dramas for Young Persons
• Edward Rushton - The Dismember'd Empire (attrib.)
• John Scott - Poetical Works
• Helen Maria Williams - Edwin and Eltruda
• John Wolcot as "Peter Pindar" - Lyric Odes, to the Royal Academicians

Non-fiction

• Thomas Day - Reflections upon the Present State of England, and the Independence of America
• William Gilpin - Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales
• Edmund Malone - Cursory Observations on the Poems Attributed to Thomas Rowley (debunking Chatterton's hoax)
• John Nichols - Biographical and Literary Anecdotes of William Bowyer
• Thomas Pennant - The Journey from Chester to London
• Isaac Reed - Biographia Dramatica
• Joseph Ritson - Observations on the First Three Volumes of the History of English Poetry (on Thomas Warton)
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau - The Confessions
• Ignatius Sancho - Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African
• Thomas Spence - The History of Crusonia on Robinson Crusoe's Island
• Thomas Tyrwhitt - A Vindication of the Appendix to the Poems, called Rowley's
• Joseph Warton - An Essay on the Writings and Genius of Pope
• Thomas Warton - An Enquiry into the Authenticity of the Poems Attributed to Thomas Rowley

Births

• April 16 - William Jerdan, journalist
• unknown date - Charlotte Dacre, English author

Deaths

• April 12 - Metastasio, Italian poet
• December 27 - Henry Home, Lord Kames, Scottish philosopher