DANIEL DEFOE

Robinson Crusoe

Daniel Defoe, English novelist, historian and pamphleteer,
was born in 1660 or 1661, in London, the son of James Foe, a
butcher, and only assumed the name of De Foe, or Defoe, in
middle life. He was brought up as a dissenter, and became a
dealer in hosiery in the city. He early began to publish his
opinions on social and political questions, and was an
absolutely fearless writer, audacious and independent, so that
he twice suffered imprisonment for his daring. The immortal
"Robinson Crusoe" was published on April 25, 1719. Defoe was
already fifty-eight years of age. It was the first English
work of fiction that represented the men and manners of its
own time as they were. It appeared in several parts, and the
first part, which is here epitomised, was so successful that
no fewer than four editions were printed in as many months.
"Robinson Crusoe" was widely pirated, and its authorship gave
rise to absurd rumours. Some claimed it had been written by
Lord Oxford in the Tower; others that Defoe had appropriated
Alexander Selkirk's papers. The latter idea was only justified
inasmuch as the story was partly founded on Selkirk's
adventures and partly on Dampier's voyages. Defoe died on
April 26, 1731.


_I.--I Go to Sea_