1721 in literature

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This article is a summary of the major literary events and publications of 1721.

Events

February – Joseph A. Hall's book, A Sober Reply to Mr. Higgs' Merry Arguments from the Light of Nature for the Tritheistic Doctrine of the Trinity..., published in the previous year, is burned by order of the British House of Lords for ridiculing Christian doctrine.^[1]
unknown dates
- John Cleland becomes a pupil at Westminster School; at first an exemplary student, he would eventually be expelled for an unknown offence.^[2]
- Lady Mary Wortley Montagu introduces to London the Ottoman Turkish method of inoculation against smallpox – variolation. The Princess of Wales is persuaded to test the treatment and it becomes fashionable.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]
- Thomas Parnell's A Night-Piece on Death is published, inaugurating the "Graveyard poets" movement.

Joseph Addison – The Works of Joseph Addison
Penelope Aubin
- The Strange Adventures of the Count de Vinevil and His Family
- The Life of Madam de Beaumont
Nathan Bailey – An Universal Etymological English Dictionary
George Berkeley – An Essay Towards Preventing the Ruine of Great Britain
Richard Blackmore – A New Version of the Psalms of David
Shaftesbury – Letters from the Late Earl of Shaftesbury, to Robert Molesworth
Charles Gildon – The Laws of Poetry
Eliza Haywood – Letters from a Lady of Quality to a Chevalier (translation)
Montesquieu – Lettres persanes (Persian Letters)
Alexander Pennecuik – An Ancient Prophecy Concerning Stock-Jobbing, and the Conduct of the Directors of the South-Sea-Company
Matthew Prior – Colin's Mistakes
John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham (died 1721) – The Works of the most noble John Sheffield, late Duke of Buckingham, published by His Grace in his life time
John Strype – Ecclesiastical Memorials
Emanuel Swedenborg – Prodromus principiorum rerum naturalium
Jonathan Swift
- The Bubble
- A Letter to a Young Gentleman, Lately Enter'd into Holy Orders
Thomas Tickell – Kensington Garden
Diego de Torres Villarroel – Pronósticos
Robert Wodrow – The History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland

March 19 – Tobias Smollett, Scottish physician and novelist (died 1771)
August 21 – Lucretia Wilhelmina van Merken, Dutch poet and playwright (died 1789)
November 9 – Mark Akenside, English poet (died 1770)
November 16 – Johann Silberschlag, German theologian (died 1791)
December 25 – William Collins, English poet (died 1759)
December 27 – François Hemsterhuis, Dutch moral philosopher (died 1790)
unknown date – Robert Potter, English translator, poet and cleric (died 1804)^[7]

^ Jonathon Green; Nicholas J. Karolides (14 May 2014). Encyclopedia of Censorship. Infobase Publishing. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-4381-1001-1.
^ Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800. Gale Research Company. 1999. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-7876-3263-2.
^ Williams, Hywel (2005). Cassell's Chronology of World History. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-304-35730-8.
^ Grundy, Isobel (2004). "Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2011-09-27. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Case, Christine L.; King-Thom, Chung (1997). "Montagu and Jenner: The Campaign Against Smallpox". SIM News. 47 (2): 58–60. Retrieved 2011-09-27.
^ Carrell, Jennifer Lee (2003). The Speckled Monster: A Historical Tale of Battling Smallpox. New York: Dutton. ISBN 0-525-94736-1.
^ Stoker, David (2004). "Potter, Robert (1721–1804)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2010-09-05. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
^ Gleanings (1875). Gleanings from the sacred poets, with biogr. notices of the authors. p. 79.
^ Madame Du Noyer (Anne Marguerite Petit) (1890). The Correspondence of Madame Du Noyer. R. Bentley & son. p. 10.