Daniel Defoe Biography Update, Early Life, Age, Death, Works

Daniel Defoe (c. 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, journalist, merchant, and spy. He is best known for his novels Robinson Crusoe (1719), Moll Flanders (1722), and Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress (1724). Defoe is considered one of the first supporters of the English novel and helped make the form popular in Britain, along with writers like Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson.

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By the end of 1719, Robinson Crusoe had already been printed in four editions. It later became one of the most widely published books ever, inspiring so many similar stories that the term ‘Robinsonade’ was created for the genre. Defoe also wrote many political pamphlets, often clashed with the authorities, and spent some time in prison. His new ideas attracted the attention of intellectuals and political leaders, who sometimes sought his advice.

Profile Summary

Age

Daniel Foe was born around 1660 on Fore Street, London.

Biography & Early Life

Daniel Foe was likely born on Fore Street in the parish of St Giles Cripplegate, London. He later added the prefix “De” to his name and at times falsely claimed descent from the De Beau Faux family. The prefix “De” is also common in Flemish surnames. His exact birthdate and birthplace are uncertain, with sources suggesting dates from 1659 to 1662; summer or early autumn of 1660 is most probable. His father, James Foe, was a prosperous tallow chandler of probable Flemish descent and a member of the Worshipful Company of Butchers. Daniel’s mother, Alice, died when he was about ten.

During his early childhood, Defoe witnessed several major historical events. In 1665, the Great Plague of London killed seventy thousand people. The next year, the Great Fire of London destroyed most of his neighborhood, leaving only his house and two others standing.[16] In 1667, when he was about seven, a Dutch fleet attacked Chatham during the raid on the Medway.

Death

Defoe died on 24 April 1731 in Ropemakers Alley, near his birthplace in Cripplegate, likely while hiding from creditors. He had frequently been in debtors’ prison. His death was recorded as lethargy, though he likely suffered a stroke. He was buried in Bunhill Fields, just outside the old City of London, now part of Islington. A monument was erected there in his memory in 1870. De Foe Place in the Bronx, New York, is also named in his honor.

Selected works

Novels

• The Consolidator, or Memoirs of Sundry Transactions from the World in the Moon: Translated from the Lunar Language (1705)
• Robinson Crusoe (1719) – originally published in two volumes:
• The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner: Who Lived Eight and Twenty Years
• The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe: Being the Second and Last Part of His Life
• Serious Reflections During the Life and Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe: With his Vision of the Angelick World (1720)
• Captain Singleton (1720)
• Memoirs of a Cavalier (1720)
• A Journal of the Plague Year (1722)
• Colonel Jack (1722)
• Moll Flanders (1722)
• Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress (1724)
• The Four Years Voyages of Capt. George Roberts (1726) – disputed both in its fictional status and in Defoe’s authorship

Nonfiction

• The Buccaneers and Marooners of America (1684) but this is a later (1891) illustrated version with details of the book’s history.
• An Essay Upon Projects (1697) – subsections of the text include: “The History of Projects,” “Of Projectors,” “Of Banks,” “Of the Highways,” “Of Assurances,” “Of Friendly Societies,” “The Proposal is for a Pension Office,” “Of Wagering,” “Of Fools,” “A Charity-Lottery,” “Of Bankrupts,” “Of Academies” (including a section proposing an academy for women), “Of a Court Merchant,” and “Of Seamen.”
• The Storm (1704) – describes the worst storm ever to hit Britain in recorded times. Includes eyewitness accounts.
• Atlantis Major (1711)
• The Family Instructor (1715)
• Memoirs of the Church of Scotland (1717)
• The History of the Remarkable Life of John Sheppard (1724) – describing Sheppard’s life of crime and concluding with the miraculous escapes from prison that made him a public sensation.
• A Narrative of All The Robberies, Escapes, &c. of John Sheppard (1724) – written by or taken down from Sheppard himself in the condemned cell before he was hanged for theft, apparently by way of conclusion to Defoe’s work. According to the Introduction to Volume 16 of the works of Defoe published by J.M. Dent in 1895, Sheppard handed the manuscript to the publisher Applebee from the prisoners’ cart as he was taken away to be hanged. Defoe’s edition of the text includes corrections of factual details and an explanation of how Sheppard’s escapes from prison were achieved.
• A Tour thro’ the Whole Island of Great Britain (1724–1727)
• A New Voyage Round the World (1724)
• The Political History of the Devil (1726)
• The Complete English Tradesman (1726)
• A Treatise Concerning the Use and Abuse of the Marriage Bed… (1727)