pure literature that he produced at this time was his Niels Klim's
Subterranean Journey (1741), written in Latin, and published in
Leipzig to evade the Danish censor. It is an account of a series of
visits that Niels Klim pays to certain strange nations within the
hollow of the earth. Like Robinson Crusoe, its partial prototype, it
contains much pointed satire on the customs of contemporary society.
It was soon translated into most other languages of Europe, and it
is one of the very few among Holberg's works that have been put into
English in any form.

At the death of Christian VI, in 1746, the obscurantist character of
the court immediately changed. One of the first forms of amusement
to be restored was the Danish theatre. Although Holberg had no
official connection with the actors, he seems to have agreed to
advise them about their repertory, and soon his association with the
stage revived his inteiest in dramatic composition. During the year
1751-52, he wrote six new plays, but they lacked the spirited
criticism of contemporary society which gave life to his earlier
work. They are either founded on Latin models, or are heavily
didactic plays, in which the author's humor fails under the burden
of the moral.

The latter part of Holberg's life was spent in peace and affluence.
His interests were more and more devoted to his large estates, and
particularly to improving the conditions under which his own
peasants labored. In 1747, he was elevated to the rank of baron,
after bequeathing his estates to the crown to endow the old academy
at Soroe. He died on January 28, 1754, and was buried in the abbey
church of Soroe, beside the great Bishop Absalom.