Anniversarial — 2011
1711
On the 15th May 1711, Alexander Pope published, anonymously, An Essay on Criticism — he was 23 at the time. In the work, he attacked the prominent literary critic John Dennis. The resulting feud culminated in Dennis's attack on Pope's Homer in 1717. Four years later an exchange of letters between them suggests they had resolved their differences: John Dennis to Alexander Pope, 10 May 1721 and Alexander Pope to John Dennis, 14 May 1721.
For a interesting discussion of this famous feud see Edward N. Hooker's article on "Pope and Dennis" (ELH 7.3, 1940: 188–198; also available as JSTOR article 2871490).
Here are some of those correspondents whose birth or death is marked in 2011:
Births
- Adair, Robert (born 1711–died 1790), Irish — surgeon
- Bassi, Laura (born 1711–died 1778), Italian — scientist
- Benezet, Jacob (born c. 1711–died 1788), Swiss — gentleman
- Blainville, Charles Henri (born 1711–died 1769), French — musician
- Bolomey, Charlotte [née Currit] (born 1711), Swiss — home-maker
- Bordes, Charles (born 1711–died 1781), French — author, playwright, academy member
- Boscawen, Admiral Edward (born 1711–died 1761), unknown nationality — navy officer, naval officer
- Boscovich, Ruggiero Giuseppe (born 1711–died 1787), Croatian — churchman, Jesuit, physicist, astronomer, poet, academy member
- Boufflers, Marie Françoise Catherine de, marquise de Boufflers-Remiencourt [née de Beauvau-Craon] (born 1711–died 1787), French — aristocrat
- Bouvart, Michel Philippe (born 1711–died 1787), French — physician, academy member
- Brandenburg, Frederick William von, margrave of Bayreuth (born 1711–died 1763), German — monarch
- Brown, Reverend doctor James (born 1711–died 1784), English — churchman, university administrator
- Clive, Catherine [née Raftor] (born 1711–died 1785), Irish — actor
- Conflans, Louis de Brienne de, marquis d’Armentières (born 1711–died 1774), French — soldier, aristocrat, army officer
- Coqueley de Chaussepierre, Charles Georges (born 1711–died 1791), French — lawyer, playwright
- Drummond, Robert Hay, archbishop of York (born 1711–died 1776), English — churchman
- Duchesne, Nicolas Bonaventure (born c. 1711–died 1765), French — publisher
- Du Tillot, Guillaume Léon (born 1711–died 1774), French — courtier, courtier, civil servant
- Duval, David (born 1711–died 1791), Swiss — merchant
- Edmonstoune of Newton, James (born c. 1711–died 1793), Scottish — army officer, tutor
- Fordyce, David (born 1711–died 1751), Scottish — philosopher, author
- Formey, Johann Heinrich Samuel (born 1711–died 1797), German — churchman, Protestant, academy member, author, editor, journalist
- Gaussin, Jeanne Catherine (born 1711–died 1767), French — actor
- Gibert, Joseph Balthasar (born 1711–died 1771), French — author, historian, academy member
- Gosse, Henri Albert (born 1711–died 1780), Swiss — printer, bookseller
- Grenus, Jean Louis (born 1711–died 1782), Swiss — politician
- Hoadly, John (born 1711–died 1776), English — churchman, playwright, poet
- Home Drummond, Agatha [formerly Home; née Drummond] (born 1711–died 1795), Scottish — landowner
- Hume, David (born 1711–died 1776), Scottish — author, historian, philosopher
- Jabłonowski, Józef Aleksander, Prince Jabłonowski (born 1711–died 1777), Polish — aristocrat, patron, academy member
- Jacquier, François (born 1711–died 1788), French — mathematician, physicist
- Kaunitz-Rietberg, Reichsfürst Wenzel Anton von (born 1711–died 1794), Austrian — lawyer, diplomat, governor, politician
- La Trémouille, Maria Anna Louisa de, princesse de Talmont [née Jablonowska] (born 1711–died 1773), Polish — princess
- Le Resche, Jean Pierre (born 1711–died 1785), Swiss — churchman, Protestant, theologian
- Loveday, John [senior] (born 1711–died 1789), English — academic, editor, travel writer
- Lowndes, Charles (born before 1711), English — government minister
- Martin & Co., Messieurs (founded 1711), English — bank
- Nelson, William (born 1711–died 1772), American — merchant, politician
- Reid, Janet (born c. 1711–died c. 1798), Scottish — home-maker
- Ripert, Jean Pierre François de, marquis de Monclar (born 1711–died 1773), French — judge, aristocrat
- Rothenburg, Friedrich Rudolf von, graf von Rothenburg (born 1711–died 1751), German — army officer, diplomat
- Smith, Adam [collector of customs] (born 1711–died after 1754), Scottish — Customs official, civil servant
- Spottiswoode, John (born 1711–died 1793), Scottish — laird
- St Lawrence, Lucy, Baroness Howth [née Gorges] (born c. 1711), Irish — aristocrat
- Stürler, Karl (born 1711–died 1793), Swiss — politician
- Tytler, William (born 1711–died 1792), Scottish — lawyer
- Wren, Christopher (born c. 1711–died 1771), English — gentleman
Deaths
- Ashurst, Sir Henry (born 1645–died 1711), English — merchant, politician, member of Parliament
- Fleetwood, Edward (died 1711), English — sea captain, merchant
- Henley, Anthony (born 1667–died 1711), English — politician, member of Parliament
- Long, Anne [née Long] (born c. 1681–died 1711), English — society beauty
- Meibom, Marc (born 1630–died 1711), Danish — scholar, scholar, classicist, academic
- Norris, John (born 1657–died 1711), English — author, poet, philosopher
- Polier de Bottens, Étienne (born 1620–died 1711), Swiss — courtier, equerry
- Relfe, John (born 1621–died 1711), English — parliamentary official
- Woodroffe, Reverend Doctor Benjamin (born 1638–died 1711), English — university administrator, chemist, academy member
