BBC
EDUCATION: WORLD BOOK DAY
Saturday the 20th of February 1999
BBC Education: World Book Day
All Audio Recordings by Craig Charles
This text is what Craig reproduced on to the real audio recordings.
1,000 BC
Around 1,000 BC Alphabets began emerging from the people living along the
Around the same time old tales passed down by oral storytelling, were written down by a Greek called Homer. The Odyssey and The Iliad inspired many later writers - me for one.
Paper was invented in
The ancient trade routes from
BBC Education: World Book
Day
All Audio Recordings by
Craig Charles
This text is what Craig
reproduced onto the real audio recordings.
1700: William Shakespeare:
It's extraordinary to
realize, that novels in the English language were entirely unknown before the
18th century.
Daniel Defoe is regarded as
the first true English novelist. Defoe wrote in plain prose with a powerful
narrative. 'Robinson Crusoe', written in 1719, was an immediate and lasting
success.
Samuel Richardson's novel
Pamela, published in 1740 proved highly successful. Not everyone found Pamela
to their taste - some found its morality hypocritical. In 1741 a stinging
parody called Shamela was published anonymously.
Henry Fielding had a great
comic gift and used irony brilliantly. Tom Jones was published in 1749, to an
enthusiastic reception from the general public, although other literary
figures, including Dr Johnson, were not quite so pleased with it - too much rumpy-pumpy perhaps!
John Dryden, Daniel Defoe
and Jonathan Swift were among those in the 17th and 18th centuries who were
concerned about inconsistencies in the English language.
Samuel Johnson was also in
that earnest group of literary worriers. Johnson's claim to literary fame was
creating the world's first ever authoritative dictionary of the English
language. In 1755, after seven grueling years of work, Johnson published his 'A
Dictionary of the English Language'. The effect of the publication was to
consolidate, at least in spelling, a language which some feared might change so
fast, that it would be unrecognizable in just a few decades.
It was with the rise of the
novel that women writers came into their own. Fanny
Burney wrote her letter-form novel Evelina in 1778.
Jane Austen was
well-received and widely read by her contemporaries, although not regarded as
being in the same class as the best-selling and prolific Walter Scott.
Scott was THE novelist of
his time. His influence was incalculable. He was avidly read and widely
imitated and he made the novel respectable by gathering a popular audience.
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