1768 in literature

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See also: 1767 in literature, 1769 in literature, list of years in literature.

Events

• John Wilkes returns from exile in France and is elected to Parliament.
• May 10 - John Wilkes is imprisoned for attacking King George III in print.
• Thomas Gray succeeds Lawrence Brockett as Regis Professor of History at Cambridge.
• The Ladies of Llangollen meet for the first time.

New books

• John Cleland - The Woman of Honour (attrib.)
• Alexander Dow, (trans) - Tales Translated from the Persian of Inatulla of Delhi
• Voltaire - La Princesse de Babylone

New drama

• Isaac Bickerstaffe
  • Lionel and Clarissa
  • The Padlock
• Oliver Goldsmith - The Good-natur'd Man
• John Hoole - Cyrus
• Thomas Hull - The Royal Merchant
• Hugh Kelly - False Delicacy
• Arthur Murphy - Zenobia
• Horace Walpole - The Mysterious Mother

Poetry

• Isaac Hawking Browne - Poems
• Thomas Gray - Poems
• Richard Jago - Labour and Genius
• Edward Jerningham - Amabella
• Mary Wortley Montagu - Poetical Works
• Henry James Pye - Elegies
• Alexander Ross - The Fortunate Shepherdess
• William Shakespeare - Mr. William Shakespeare His Comedies, Histories and Tragedies
• Christopher Smart - The Parables of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ
• William Wilkie - Fables

Non-fiction

• James Boswell - An Account of Corsica
• William Gilpin - An Essay upon Prints, containing remarks upon the principles of picturesque beauty
• Oliver Goldsmith - The Present State of the British Empire in Europe, America, Africa, and Asia
• Richard Gough - Anecdotes of British Topography
• Joseph Priestley - An Essay on the First Principles of Government
• Tobias Smollett - The Present State of all Nations
• Laurence Sterne - A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy
• Gilbert Stuart - An Historical Dissertation Concerning the Antiquity of the English Constitution
• Abraham Tucker as "Edward Search" - The Light of Nature Pursued
• Horace Walpole - Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard III
• Arthur Young - A Six Weeks' Tour Through the Southern Counties of England and Wales

Births

• March 22 - Melesina Trench, Irish-born writer and socialite (died 1827)
• September 4 - François-René de Chateaubriand, French writer and diplomat (died 1848)
• November 18 - Zacharias Werner, German religious poet (died 1823)
• November 21 - Friedrich Schleiermacher, German theologian (died 1834)

Deaths

• March 1 - Hermann Samuel Reimarus, German philosopher (born 1694)
• March 18 - Laurence Sterne, novelist
• April 9 - Sarah Fielding, novelist and children's author (born 1710)
• July 4 - Willem van Haren, Dutch poet (born 1710)
• August 17 - Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky, Russian poet (born 1703)
• December 20 - Carlo Innocenzio Maria Frugoni, Italian poet (born 1692)
• date unknown
  • Eggert Ólafsson, Icelandic writer and linguist (born 1726) (drowned)
  • Joseph Spence, memoirist and professor of poetry (born 1699)