Daniel Defoe
English writer, journalist, merchant and spy
UnknownUnknown , style of Sir Godfrey Kneller · via Wikipedia: Daniel Defoe · Public domain
Along with Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson, Defoe is considered an early figure who advanced the English novel and increased its popularity in Britain.[1]
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Daniel Foe
- Born
- c. 1660
- Birthplace
- Fore Street, London
- Died
- 24 April 1731
- Place of death
- London, England
- Resting place
- Bunhill Fields
- Occupation
- Writer
- merchant
- spy
- Genre
- Adventure
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
The exact date and location of his birth are not known, but the most probable time is the summer or early autumn of 1660.[2] Following the joint coronation of William III and Mary II in 1689, Defoe became a close ally and secret agent for William.[3]
What the cited sources add
A biography notes that Defoe's life was a strange one and that his exact birth date is unknown, with historians estimating the year as either 1659 or 1660.[4] Very little is known of Defoe's childhood, and in his mid-thirties he began signing his name as Defoe.[4] Defoe's education began in the Rev. James Fisher's school in Dorking, and later, at about age fourteen, he was enrolled in the Dissenting academy in Newington Green.[4] Morton is seen as a major influence on Defoe's writing style, and another primary influence was the Bible.[4]
Although intended for the ministry, Defoe settled instead on a career as a commission agent.[4] Defoe's love for trade permeated his writings, and he saw himself in the role of a solid, middle-class family man.[4] A year after his marriage, Defoe took up arms as a Dissenter in Monmouth's failed rebellion against the Catholic King James II.[4]
References
- Wikipedia, "Daniel Defoe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Backscheider, "Daniel Defoe (1660?–1731)", January 2008; "Defoe", The Oxford Companion to English Literature, ed. Margaret Drabble. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), p. 265. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Daniel Defoe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hibbert, "The London Encyclopaedia", Pan Macmillan, 2010, p. 304; Stephanson, "The Secrets of Generation: Reproduction in the Long Eighteenth Century", University of Toronto Press, 2013, p. 105; Torselli, "Daniel Defoe", www.baroque.it; Bastian, "Defoe's Early Years", Macmillan Press, 1981, p. 8; Schaff, "Handbook of British Travel Writing", De Gruyter, 2020; Mutter, "Daniel Defoe – English author" (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Daniel Defoe" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Broadview Anthology of Literature: The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century", Broadview Press, 2006; "The Broadview Anthology of Literature: The Restoration and the Eighteenth Century", Broadview Press, 2006 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Biography of Daniel Defoe (1659?–1731). Retrieved 1 August 2013.. facts only, no text reused. gradesaver.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Daniel Defoe (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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