1808 in literature

The year 1808 in literature involved some significant events and new books.

Events

 * Opening of the Théâtre St. Philippe, New Orleans.
 * The first Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, established in 1732, is destroyed by fire. Rebuilding begins in December.

New books

 * Sophia Bouverie
 * Lord Hubert of Arundel
 * St. Justin
 * James Norris Brewer - Mountville Castle
 * Stéphanie Félicité, Comtesse de Genlis -The Earl of Cork
 * Sarah Green - Tankerville Family
 * Elizabeth Hamilton - The Cottagers of Glenburnie
 * Anthony Frederick Holstein – Sir Owen Glendowr
 * Heinrich von Kleist - The Marquise of O (novella)
 * Francis Lathom - The Northern Gallery
 * Caroline Maxwell – Alfred of Normandy
 * Charles Maturin - The Wild Irish Boy
 * Henrietta Rouviere Mosse - The Old Irish Baronet
 * Henrietta Sykes – Margiana
 * Elizabeth Thomas - The Husband and Wife
 * Anne Trelawney
 * Characters at Brighton
 * Offspring of Mortimer
 * R. P. M. Yorke - Valley of Collares
 * Mary Julia Young - The Star of Fashion

New drama

 * Johann Wolfgang von Goethe - Faust, Part 1
 * Heinrich von Kleist
 * Penthesilea
 * The Broken Jug
 * Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger - Hakon Jarl

Poetry

 * Sir Walter Scott - Marmion

Non-fiction

 * Charles Fourier - The Theory of the Four Movements
 * J. F. Fries - Neue oder anthropologische Kritik der Vernunft (New Critique of Reason)
 * Karl Wilhelm Friedrich von Schlegel - Über die Sprache und Weisheit der Indier

Births

 * January 27 - David Strauss, German theologian and writer
 * February 5 - Carl Spitzweg, German poet
 * February 16 - Gustave Planche, French critic
 * May 22 - Gérard de Nerval, French poet and translator
 * June 17 - Henrik Wergeland, Norwegian poet
 * June 28 - James Spedding, English author and editor
 * November 2 - Jules Amédée Barbey d'Aurevilly, French novelist
 * Solomon Northup, American memoirist
 * Vendela Hebbe, Swedish playwright, journalist and novelist

Deaths

 * September 5 - John Home, Scottish poet
 * September 13 - Saverio Bettinelli, Italian man of letters
 * Melchiore Cesarotti, Italian poet