1838 in literature

The year 1838 in literature involved some significant new books.

Events

 * George Palmer Putnam and John Wiley form the book publishing and retail firm of Wiley & Putnam in New York City. It is the forerunner of G. P. Putnam's Sons.

New books

 * Hendrik Conscience - The Lion of Flanders
 * Charles Dickens - Oliver Twist
 * Karl Immerman - Münchhausen
 * John Pendleton Kennedy - Rob of the Bowl
 * Frederick Marryat with Edward Howard -Rattling the Reefer
 * Edgar Allan Poe
 * The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
 * "Ligeia" (short story)
 * Ann Sophia Stephens - Mary Derwent

New drama

 * Dion Boucicault - A Legend of the Devil's Dyke
 * Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton -The Lady of Lyons
 * Franz Grillparzer - Weh dem, der lügt! - Link to the german article
 * Victor Hugo - Ruy Blas

Poetry

 * Elizabeth Barrett Browning - The Seraphim and Other Poems

Non-fiction

 * Giacomo Casanova - Memoirs (final volume)
 * Ralph Waldo Emerson - The Divinity School Address
 * Samuel Smiles - Physical Education

Births

 * June 26 - Bankim Chatterjee (+ 1894)
 * July 20 - Augustin Daly, dramatist and theatre manager (+ 1899)
 * November 7 - Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam, Symbolist writer (+ 1889)

Deaths

 * April 12 - Johann Adam Möhler, theologian (b. 1796)
 * July 12 - John Jamieson, lexicographer (b. 1759)
 * August 24 - Ferenc Kölcsey, Hungarian poet and critic (b. 1790)
 * December 17 - Józef Zawadzki, publisher (b. 1781)
 * December 20 - Hégésippe Moreau, poet (b. 1810)
 * December 26 - Ann Hatton, novelist (b. 1764)
 * date unknown
 * Thomas Morton, dramatist (b. 1764)
 * Amhlaoibh Ó Súilleabháin, Irish language author (b. 1780)