The Literature Network - Daniel Defoe

Daniel Defoe

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From: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition
Date: 20080415
Author:

Daniel Defoe , 1660?-1731, English writer, b. London.

Early Life and Works

The son of a London butcher, and educated at a Dissenters' academy, he was typical of the new kind of man reaching prominence in England in the 18th cent.—self-reliant, industrious, possessing a strong notion of personal and moral responsibility. Although intended for the Presbyterian ministry, he had by 1683 set himself up as a merchant dealing in many different commodities. In spite of his own considerable savings and his wife's dowry, Defoe went bankrupt in 1692. Although he paid his creditors, he was ...

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