Gulliver's Travels, published in London in October 1726 and credited only to the fictional Lemuel Gulliver, was written by the Anglo-Irish clergyman and satirist Jonathan Swift. It tells of four voyages by a ship's surgeon to imaginary lands: Lilliput, where the people are tiny; Brobdingnag, home of giants; the flying island of Laputa and neighbouring places; and the country of the Houyhnhnms, rational horses who rule over brutish humans called Yahoos. The book is a sharp satire of politics, science, travel writing and human nature. The first printer, Benjamin Motte, changed and cut passages out of fear of prosecution, and Swift's text was restored only in a Dublin edition of 1735. Often read today as a children's tale in abridged form, it remains a masterpiece of English satire.
Before and after
- 24 September 1724Founding of Euronext Paris
- 1725The Four Seasons
- 28 January 1725Death of Peter the Great
- 2 April 1725Birth of Giacomo Casanova
- 28 October 1726Publication of Gulliver's Travels
- 1727Founding of Palmer
- 20 March 1727Death of Isaac Newton
- 10 February 1728Birth of Peter III of Russia
- 27 October 1728Birth of James Cook
More in Art, literature & culture
- 1652Origins of Quakers
- c. 1653The Taj Mahal is completed
- from 1660 to 1725Rise of Classicism
- 1661Construction of Palace of Versailles
- from c. 1730s to 1780sRise of Rococo
- 1759Construction of British Museum
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 18th century.