John Hawkesworth (book editor) facts for kids
John Hawkesworth was an important English writer and editor. He was born in London around 1715 and died on November 16, 1773. He became famous for his many writings and for editing the works of other well-known authors.
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About John Hawkesworth
John Hawkesworth was a very smart person who taught himself most of what he knew. In 1744, he took over from Samuel Johnson at a magazine called Gentleman's Magazine. There, he helped put together reports about important discussions happening in the government. He also wrote poems for the magazine between 1741 and 1749.
Later, Hawkesworth teamed up with Samuel Johnson and other writers. They started their own magazine called The Adventurer. This magazine published 140 issues, and John Hawkesworth wrote 70 of them himself!
His Writings and Works
Because of his strong support for good morals and religion in his writings, the Archbishop of Canterbury gave Hawkesworth a special university degree called LL.D.
In 1754, he published a large collection of books by another famous writer, Jonathan Swift. This collection had 12 volumes and included a story about Swift's life. Samuel Johnson even praised this work! Hawkesworth later put out an even bigger collection of Swift's works.
John Hawkesworth also wrote for the theater. He changed some older plays to be performed on stage, like Amphitryon by John Dryden in 1756. He also wrote the words for a musical story called an oratorio, named Zimri, in 1760. The next year, his play Edgar and Emmeline: a Fairy Tale was shown at the Drury Lane theater. He also wrote a story called Almoran and Hamet in 1761.
Editing Captain Cook's Voyages
One of John Hawkesworth's most important jobs was for the British Navy. They asked him to edit the journals and papers from Captain James Cook's first big voyage around the world.
This huge project resulted in a three-volume book called An Account of the Voyages undertaken... for making discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere. It covered voyages by several captains, including Captain Cook, from 1702 to 1771.
Hawkesworth was paid a huge amount of money for this work – £6000! This was an amazing sum back then. His book became one of the most popular travel books of the 1700s. It described the customs of people living in the South Pacific islands. However, some people thought his descriptions were not completely accurate or were too harsh. This criticism may have made him very upset.
John Hawkesworth was buried in the church at Bromley, Kent. He and his wife used to run a school there.
His Friendship with Samuel Johnson
John Hawkesworth often wrote in a style similar to Samuel Johnson's. For a while, they were very good friends. However, it is said that Hawkesworth became a bit too proud of his success. Because of this, he might have lost Samuel Johnson's friendship around 1756.
