Literary Encyclopedia — Alexander Pope

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href="/php/browse_volume.php?id_display=7">1.2.1.05</a>: <em>English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution</em>, 1689-1789. </li> <li>Vol. editors: <a href="/php/show_editor_articles.php?id_editor=16009">Paul Baines (University of Liverpool)</a>, <a href="/php/show_editor_articles.php?id_editor=67236">Daniel Cook (University of Dundee)</a>, <a href="/php/show_editor_articles.php?id_editor=86695">Nicole Kennedy (University of Newcastle)</a>, <a href="/php/show_editor_articles.php?id_editor=75118">Pat Rogers (University of South Florida)</a>, <a href="/php/show_editor_articles.php?id_editor=16258">Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)</a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="col-12 col-sm-6 col-md-3 col-lg-2"> <div id="article_metadata"> <div class="card metadata"> <div class="card-header"> <h3 class="card-title">Dates</h3> </div> <div class="card-body"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> <li><span >Born</span> 21 May 1688</li> <li><span >Died</span> 30 May 1744</li> <li><span >Activity</span> 1709-1744</li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="card metadata"> <div class="card-header"> <h3 class="card-title">Places</h3> </div> <div class="card-body"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> <li> Born in England </li> <li> Active in England </li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="card metadata"> <div class="card-header"> <h3 class="card-title">Activities</h3> </div> <div class="card-body"> <h4 class="mb-0">Primary</h4> <ul class="list-unstyled"> <li>Poet</li> <li>Satirist</li> </ul> <h4 class="mt-2 mb-0">Other</h4> <ul class="list-unstyled"> <li>Editor</li> <li>Journalist</li> <li>Landscape designer</li> <li>Literary Critic/ Historian</li> <li>Translator</li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="article_options"> <div class="card commands"> <div class="card-header"> <h3 class="card-title">Resources</h3> </div> <div class="card-body"> <ul class="list-unstyled"> <li><a class="text-primary" href="/php/investigate.php?article_id=5169&article_type_id=1&investigation_type=works">Pope's Works</a></li> <a aria-label="Add this article to a bookshelf" href="#" id="add_to_bookshelves">Save to Bookshelf</a> <li><a target="_blank" href="/php/investigate.php?article_id=5169&article_type_id=1&investigation_type=chronologies">Lifeline</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="/php/investigate.php?article_id=5169&article_type_id=1&investigation_type=contemporaries">Contemporaries</a></li> <li><a target="_blank" href="/php/investigate.php?article_id=5169&article_type_id=1&investigation_type=rr">Recommended Reading</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <button class="btn btn-success w-100 mt-xs-1 mb-xs-1" data-feedback="feedback" aria-label="Leave Feedback">Send Us Feedback </button> </div> <div class="col-12 col-sm-6 col-md-9 col-lg-10" id="article"> <div class="card"> <div class="card-body"> <p>Alexander Pope was born in Plough Court, off Lombard Street, in the heart of the City of London on 21 May 1688. He was the only child of elderly, well-off, Roman Catholic parents (his mother was 45 when he was born) to whom he remained closely devoted throughout his life. His father had been a successful linen merchant for almost twenty years prior to his son's birth, but was forced to retire in 1688, owing to the anti-Catholic laws passed after the arrival of William III. In the same year an Act of Parliament came into force prohibiting Catholics from living within ten miles of the City of London. Although the family went on living in Lombard Street for another five years, continuing anti-Catholic legislation, given renewed prominence from royal proclamations in 1696, 1715 and 1744, was…</p> <div class="alert alert-danger" role="alert">Please <a href="/php/members/login.php">log in</a> to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (<a href="/subscriberlist.php">see List</a>), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a <a href="/php/register.php">personal user account</a> with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under <a href="/individual_subscriptions.php">Individual Subcriptions</a>. </div> <p class="mb-0">2758 words</p> <p><span class="text-primary break"><strong>Citation:</strong></span> Gordon, Ian. "Alexander Pope". <em>The Literary Encyclopedia</em>. First published 03 March 2002 <span class="break">[https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5169, accessed 01 April 2025.]</span></p> <ul class="list-unstyled break"> <li><a title="Recommended reading for this article." target="_blank" href="/el/articles/people/5169/recommended-reading">View recommended reading for this article</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <span class="d-none" id="article_id">5169</span> <span class="d-none" id="headword">Alexander Pope</span> <span class="d-none" id="article_type_id">1</span> <span class="d-none" id="shortnote_text">Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. 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Literary Encyclopedia — Alexander Pope