These works of literature have each been claimed as the first novel in English. DeFoes Robinson Crusoe, Newspaper edition published in 1719 A novel (from French nouvelle, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

• Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, (written circa 1470, published 1485).
• Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia (1581)
• John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress (1678).
• Aphra Behn, Oroonoko (1688).
• Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1719).
• Daniel Defoe, Moll Flanders (1722).
• Samuel Richardson, Pamela (1740).

These are some other early long works of prose fiction in English: Sir Thomas Malory (c. ... Le Morte dArthur (The Death of Arthur)—the title is actually spelled as Le Morte Darthur in the first printing and also in some modern editions—is Sir Thomas Malorys compilation of some French and English Arthurian romances. ... Events May 15 - Charles VIII of Sweden who had served three terms as King of Sweden dies. ... // Events August 5-7 - First outbreak of sweating sickness in England begins August 22 - Battle of Bosworth Field is fought between the armies of King Richard III of England and rival claimant to the throne of England Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond. ... Philip Sidney Sir Philip Sidney (November 30, 1554 - October 17, 1586) became one of the Elizabethan Ages most prominent figures. ... Events January 16 - English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism April 4 - Francis Drake completes a circumnavigation of the world and is knighted by Elizabeth I. July 26 - The Northern Netherlands proclaim their independence from Spain in the Oath of Abjuration. ... John Bunyan. ... The Pilgrims Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come by John Bunyan (published 1678) is an allegorical novel. ... Events August 10 - Treaty of Nijmegen ends the Dutch War. ... A sketch of Aphra Behn by George Scharf from a portrait believed to be lost. ... Portrait of Aphra Behn, aged approximately 30, by Mary Beale. ... // Events A high-powered conspiracy of notables, the Immortal Seven, invite William and Mary to depose James II of England. ... Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (1660 â€“ April 24, 1731) was an English spy, writer and journalist, who first gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. ... Robinson Crusoe and Man Friday by Carl Offterdinger Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1719 and sometimes regarded as the first novel in English. ... // Events January 23 - The Principality of Liechtenstein is created within the Holy Roman Empire April 25 - Daniel Defoe publishes Robinson Crusoe June 10 - Battle of Glen Shiel Prussia conducts Europes first systematic census Ongoing events Great Northern War (1700-1721) Births November 30 - Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Princess of... Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (1660 â€“ April 24, 1731) was an English spy, writer and journalist, who first gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. ... The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders is a 1722 novel by Daniel Defoe. ... Events Abraham De Moivre states De Moivres theorem connecting trigonometric functions and complex numbers Publication of the first book of Bachs Well-Tempered Clavier Fall of Persias Safavid dynasty during a bloody revolt of the Afghani people. ... Samuel Richardson (August 19, 1689 – July 4, 1761) was a major eighteenth-century writer best known for his three epistolary novels: Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded (1740), Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady (1748) and Sir Charles Grandison (1753). ... a Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics PAMELA experiments homepage Categories: Physics stubs ... Events May 31 - Friedrich II comes to power in Prussia upon the death of his father, Friedrich Wilhelm I. October 20 - Maria Theresia of Austria inherits the Habsburg hereditary dominions (Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and present-day Belgium). ...

• William Caxton's 1483 translation of Geoffrey de La Tour Landry, The Knight of the Tower (originally in French).
• Thomas Nashe, The Unfortunate Traveller, or The Life of Jack Wilton (1594).
• Jonathan Swift, A Tale of a Tub (1704).
• Daniel Defoe, The Consolidator (1705).
• Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels (1726).

There are multiple candidates for first novel in English partly because of ignorance of earlier works, but largely because the term novel can be defined so as to exclude earlier candidates: William Caxton (c. ... Events The São Tomé settlement is founded. ... Thomas Nashe (November 1567–1600?) was an English Elizabethan pamphleteer, poet and satirist. ... The Unfortunate Traveller by Thomas Nashe (1594) is a picaresque novel set during the reign of Henry VIII of England. ... Events February 27 - Henry IV is crowned King of France at Rheims. ... Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer who is famous for works like Gullivers Travels and A Tale of a Tub. ... A Tale of a Tub (play). ... Events Building of the Students Monument in Aiud, Romania. ... Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (1660 â€“ April 24, 1731) was an English spy, writer and journalist, who first gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. ... Events Construction begins on Blenheim Palace, in Oxfordshire, England. ... Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer who is famous for works like Gullivers Travels and A Tale of a Tub. ... Gullivers Travels (1726, amended 1735) is a work of fiction by Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of the travellers tales literary sub-genre. ... Events George Friderich Handel becomes a British subject. ... DeFoes Robinson Crusoe, Newspaper edition published in 1719 A novel (from French nouvelle, new) is an extended fictional narrative in prose. ...

• Some critics require a novel to be wholly original and so exclude retellings like Le Morte d'Arthur.
• Most critics distinguish between an anthology of stories with different protagonists, even if joined by common themes and milieus, and the novel (which forms a connected narrative), and so also exclude Le Morte d'Arthur.
• Some critics distinguish between the romance (which has fantastic elements) and the novel (which is wholly realistic) and so yet again exclude Le Morte d'Arthur.
• Some critics distinguish between the allegory (in which characters and events have political, religious or other meanings) and the novel (in which characters and events stand only for themselves) and so exclude The Pilgrim's Progress and A Tale of a Tub.
• Some critics require a novel to have a certain length, and so exclude Oroonoko, defining it instead as a novella.
• Some critics distinguish between the picaresque (which has a loosely connected sequence of episodes) and the novel (which has unity of structure) and so exclude The Unfortunate Traveller.

The phrase "first true novel" is probably an indication that "novel" is being carefully defined so as to exclude earlier candidates than the one the writer has in mind. Anthology may also mean a Alien Ant Farm album ANThology, see Anthology (AAF Album) An anthology is a collection of literary works, originally of poems, but in recent years its usage has broadened to be applied to collections of short stories and comic strips. ... This article is in need of attention. ... As a literary genre, romance refers to a style of heroic prose and verse narrative current in Europe from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. ... An allegory (from Greek αλλος, allos, other, and αγορευειν, agoreuein, to speak in public) is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than and in addition to the literal. ... A novella is a short, narrative, prose fiction work. ... The picaresque novel (Spanish: picaresco, from pícaro, for rogue or rascal) is a popular style of novel that originated in Spain and flourished in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries and has continued to influence modern literature. ...

Due to the influence of Ian Watt's seminal study in literary sociology, The Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson and Fielding (1957), Watt's candidate, Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719), gained wide acceptance. But with the rise of feminist criticism in the 1970s and 1980s and its concomitant rediscovery of forgotten writings by women, it is now more often argued that Aphra Behn’s Oroonoko (1688) is the “first English novel”. Literary critic and literary historian Ian Watt (1917-1999) was a professor of English at Stanford University. ... 1957 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (1660 â€“ April 24, 1731) was an English spy, writer and journalist, who first gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. ... Robinson Crusoe and Man Friday by Carl Offterdinger Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published in 1719 and sometimes regarded as the first novel in English. ... // Events January 23 - The Principality of Liechtenstein is created within the Holy Roman Empire April 25 - Daniel Defoe publishes Robinson Crusoe June 10 - Battle of Glen Shiel Prussia conducts Europes first systematic census Ongoing events Great Northern War (1700-1721) Births November 30 - Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, Princess of... A sketch of Aphra Behn by George Scharf from a portrait believed to be lost. ... Portrait of Aphra Behn, aged approximately 30, by Mary Beale. ... // Events A high-powered conspiracy of notables, the Immortal Seven, invite William and Mary to depose James II of England. ...

See also

• the article novel for detailed information about the history of the terms "novel" and "romance" and the bodies of texts they defined in a historical perspective.