Talk:Daniel Defoe

message: The addition of "spy" to Defoe's professions seems a good one, but someone has rushed in to take it out saying
(a)  it is not mentioned in the main text (it is--"[the] leading Minister and spymaster in the English Government. Harley accepted Defoe's services" --though certainly more could be said) and 
(b) it is open to debate (it is not).   
Does anyone know a repectable source that denies Defoe was a spy?  To offer a few that do not doubt it:
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: "Defoe became one of Harley's agents and an opinion sampler. Over the next three years he extended the possibilities of counter-insurgency, invented practices that survive to the present day, and earned the reputation of master spy"
Bastian, p. 214: "Defoe ... was now anticipating the role he was to play nine years later ... that of a government spy"
Drabble, Companion to English Literature: "Harley ... employed him as a secret agent"
but perhaps we can defer to Defoe himself:  "In This Little scheme of their Affaires I have Acted as a _True spy_ to you" (Letter to Harley, January 4, 1707).
Pauldu 23:17, 18 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Old conversations un-titled

message: You've got some attention from UC Berkeley. "My corrections were undone by people who clearly had little idea what they were talking about almost as quickly as they were made by me (who knew a little of what he was talking about).". - BanyanTree 03:11, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: "The minute I got to [the text stating] which book made him famous — and while I'm English, I'm no expert in Defoe — I knew it was wrong." That's funny, because I see no text saying which book made him famous, either in today's (Jan. 19, 2006) version or or the October 2005 version. It says "[Daniel Defoe] gained enduring fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe." I strongly suspect that most English speakers would only recognize Defoe through RC; the Esperanto article mentions two or three translations of Robinson Crusoe, but no other works of Defoe, and a quasi-random sampling of the Library of Congress catalog turned up a number of translations of RC into French, German and Japanese, but no obvious translations of any of Defoe's other works.--Prosfilaes 03:25, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

text: This series of edits received attention again on Fresh Air interview with Geoffrey Nunberg.  Basically the gist was when the Berkeley prof saw the Defoe page, the first two sentences had five errors, and after going through the revision process, resulted in nine errors. Huangdi (talk) 21:28, 3 June 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  media source 

message: Hi, I would like to add an external link to the World of Biography entry
*  probably the most famous portal of biography to this article. Does anybody have any objections?
—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Jameswatt (talk • contribs) 14 April 2006  (UTC)
:This user has added similar requests to link to biographies hosted on the same site to about 50 different articles. Although I believe that these requests were made in good faith, adding the links to all of the articles would be spamming. In addition, the biographies tend to be not very insightful and/or minimally informative, and the webpages contain Google AdSense links.
:A fuller explanation of my own opinion on these links can be found here, if anyone wishes to read it.
:Hbackman 00:47, 15 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: External links

message: I've just been doing a school report an Defoe, basically an analysis of his writing style.  While looking through the article I saw that it claims that "there is evidence that his financial dealings were not always honest."  I'd just like someone to check and see if they can find a source for that, as I've not seen it anywhere else, and I've probably looked through three or four biographies for my report.  Not extensive research, but they all seem to agree he was in debt because he was so eager to invest in multiple businesses that when his investments hit hard times he lost a lot of money.  Just wanted to check on that.--Az 03:50, 1 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Anyone have a source?

message: Is it necessary and proper to italisize the phrase "five hundred" in the first paragraph? It is an impressive score, but should wikipedia be the body to emphasize that impressiveness? --Amanaplanacanalpanama 22:26, 7 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  stylistic question 

message: There's a good article in First Monday, which mentions this page and some issues with it - also referring to previous activities/discussions. It would probably be worth taking a look. Cheers. Cormaggio is learning 11:07, 24 October 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Another media mention 

message: The article has a "see also" link to Christian anarchism; the word "anarchism" isn't mentioned anywhere else in the Defoe article, nor is he mentioned in the Christian anarchism article.  Is it safe to call Defoe a Christian anarchist?  If so, a section on these views should be added to the article, with sources cited.  It's not very encyclopedic to just imply the fact with a "see also."  --Trevor Burnham 07:03, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Christian anarchist? 

message: I added a   to the intro claim that some sources credit Defoe as a "founder" of the English novel.  I am not disputing that the intent here is probably correct.  I'm a bit doubtful of the word "founder" - makes it sound like the English novel is a corporation or something. If someone can point out this particular usage in a secondary text, I'll be fine with it. Applejuicefool 20:24, 2 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Here is one. I'm sure there are many others. I don't think it is particularly unusual that we need to cite specific authors on it though. -- Stbalbach 16:52, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: As I said, I am debating simply the usage of the particular word "founder".  The source at the link you posted above does not include the word "founder" - I did a search for it in that book. It's not there. Defoe might be considered the "Father" of the English novel.  He might be considered the "originator" of the English novel.  I just think "founder" is semantically the wrong word, and would like to see a source that uses that word. Applejuicefool 17:46, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text:  If you look at the exact page that comes up when you click on the link, it says that "Defoe, arguably, founded the English novel." That's semantically the same root word.--Prosfilaes 21:59, 5 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Founder? 

message: Why was he put on the catholic church index (Vatican's list of banned books)? This is not explained in the article. 193.226.227.153 14:26, 17 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bookburning 

message: The standard and most authoritative Defoe biography is Paula Backscheider's. It should be referenced, if not quoted, extensively here. It should also be in the Bibliography. Awadewit 11:12, 24 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Standard Defoe biography

message: The intro and the main text disagree on his date of death. Anyone have a source to confirm which is correct? --OpenToppedBus - Talk to the driver 13:38, 13 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Date of death

message: Early critics, such as Robert Louis Stevenson, admired it, saying that the footprint scene in Crusoe was one of the four greatest in English literature, and most unforgettable
Stevenson was born 131 years after Robinson Crusoe's publication.  I'd think an "early critic" would reasonably considered to be one who reviewed the book around the time it was published.  At the very least, in this case it should be reserved for eighteenth century critics.  Stevenson was obviously an earlier critic than us, but he's closer to us than he is to Defoe (he's 130 years older than me, for instance, and 190 years younger than Defoe.)  john k (talk) 19:05, 21 August 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  How is Stevenson an "early critic"? 

message: I stumbled across an edit removing the wikilink to Cochrane in reference to the pillory.  The link was correct as Cochrane was indeed sentenced to the pillory before having this part of his sentence commuted.  However the quote by Moore (probably writing in 1962 or 71) says "no man ever stood in the pillory and later rose to eminence" so the mention of Cochrane in the article is perhaps superfluous as he never stood in the pillory - Dumelow (talk) 23:39, 16 November 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: It can't refer to the Thomas Cochrane you linked to - Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald (1775–1860) as he is from a later era - perhaps it is an earlier Earl of Dundonald that can be checked with the source. --mervyn (talk) 09:05, 17 November 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Sorry I misread this - it is not a reference to someone who was a contemporary of the Defoe incident but a ref to a much later event which did involve Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald. Chronological relationship needs to be clarified if it is to be retained. --mervyn (talk) 09:09, 17 November 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: To be honest I do not think it is worth retaining as it is not an exception to Moore's comment and adds little to the article.  However this is well out of my area of expertise so I'll leave the decision to those more knowledgeable in this area.  In the meantime I have corrected a minor error introduced to that part when I re-added the link - Dumelow (talk) 17:56, 17 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Thomas Cochrane 

message: Daniel Defoe was born Daniel Foe, he added the De later on in life.
Says so in the introduction of a compilation of Daniel Defoe in Barnes and Noble
"Compilation copyright 2007 by Barnes & Noble, Inc."
76.181.233.103 (talk) 01:20, 21 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Daniel Defoe was born as Daniel Foe 

message: The article begins by suggesting Defoe died on April 24; it ends by asserting that he died on April 26. As this is an article that had drawn some attention, it might be wise to keep it consistent.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.130.85.131 (talk) 01:34, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Death 

message: Capt. Charles Johnson was the listed author of A General History of the Pyrates, and only reputed scholarship claims Defoe as using a pseudonym (see Charles_Johnson_(pirate_biographer).
Therefore, the following should be removed from the Bibliography section:
Daniel Defoe, A General History of the Pyrates  (Dover Publications, 1999) (contains the text on Libertatia, a pirate utopia)
And perhaps the following should be added to the "Later life and writings" section following the first sentence:
Literary scholars are currently re-assessing the hundreds of works credited to Defoe that were either published anonymously or were thought to be authored by Defore working under a pseudonyum.  One such work is  A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates by Charles_Johnson_(pirate_biographer)
the citation could be:
http://www.worldcat.org/isbn/0300041195
http://www.jstor.org/pss/517417
http://www.bonaventure.org.uk/ed/johnson.htm
I don't know how to make citations.
Re the author and name Charles Johnson -
Charles Johnson (minus the title of "Captain") is reputed to be a hack writer who was responsible for the authorship of a play about Captain Avery and who may well be the real author of The King of The Pirates, a book about Avery.  The use of his name with the title "Captain" in this book is possibly satirical.  It was removed after the first edition.   Whitespeck (talk) 23:19, 7 June 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Capt. Charles Johnson 

message: Here it says that his father changed his name from Kreutzer.  I can find no other citation for this.  Is it true?  --  Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 07:03, 6 December 2015 (UTC)
thread_title: Kreutzer?

message: The bibliography is woefully inadequate. Duncan Campbell after all isn't included.
Philologick (talk) 23:25, 25 March 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  incomplete bibliography 

message: We have this in the lead:
Daniel Defoe (; 13 September 166024 April 1731),According to Paul Duguid in "Limits of self organization", First Monday (11 September 2006): "Most reliable sources hold that the date of Defoe's birth was uncertain and may have fallen in 1659 or 1661. The day of his death is also uncertain."
 You posted a birth date without verification from a reliable source. There is an existing source that says both Defoe's birth & death dates are uncertain. Please provide a citation or we will need to remove your assertions as unverified.
Peaceray (talk) 18:56, 18 September 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: there is little to explain, just take a look at his contributions: in order to have accurate birth dates, he simply removes the "circa" and/or adds fake days and months, without providing any source. Khruner (talk) 19:58, 18 September 2017 (UTC)
replies: text:  Ugh! Thanks for the heads up. Judging by Special:Contributions/Levi_Gonzalez, there's a lot to clean up. Peaceray (talk) 21:00, 18 September 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Birth & death dates for Daniel Defoe 

message: The article says that it has often been assumed Defoe was inspired by Crusoe, but 'his experience is inconsistent with the details of the narrative'. Does this really refute the inspiration story? I mean you could argue The Martian is inspired by either of these stories, yet obviously the details of its narrative are not consistent with either, I mean its set in space!. If Defoe knew about Selkirk before he wrote the book, it must surely be hard to argue it did not feature as inspiration. LastDodo (talk) 11:56, 18 November 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Was Crusoe inspired by Selkirk? 

message: Daniel Defoe moralised against "sodomites" and molly houses in his A Review of the State of the British Nation on 7 November 1707 (vol. iv, no. 124, pp. 495–6). It would be good to see some mention of that here. — OwenBlacker (he/him; Talk; please  me in replies) 19:39, 25 February 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Anti-sodomy writings 

message: Publishers and Hack Writers: Signs of Collaborative Writing in the "Defoe" Canon, Journal of Information Ethics. The author has also published on Shakespeare authorship. @CambridgeBayWeather and @Rjensen, pinging you since I saw you in the edithistory. Gråbergs Gråa Sång (talk) 10:03, 4 February 2022 (UTC)
replies: text: I would take anything by that author with a very large pinch of salt. DuncanHill (talk) 10:07, 4 February 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Possibly useful source, for the interested 

message: An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect :Daniel the Prophet and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at  until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion.  Veverve (talk) 08:33, 10 December 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Daniel the Prophet" listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] 

message: An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect :A Shropshire Gentleman and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at  until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion.  Veverve (talk) 07:56, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  "A Shropshire Gentleman" listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] 

message: An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect :A Scots Gentleman in the Swedish Service and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at  until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion.  Veverve (talk) 07:57, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  "A Scots Gentleman in the Swedish Service" listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] 

message: An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect :Junior Rector of St. Michael and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at  until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion.  Veverve (talk) 07:58, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Junior Rector of St. Michael" listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] 

message: An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect :Captain George Carleton and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at  until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion.  Veverve (talk) 08:00, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Captain George Carleton" listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] 

message: An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect :A Jobber and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at  until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion.  Veverve (talk) 08:00, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  "A Jobber" listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] 

message: An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect :William Smithies and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at  until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion.  Veverve (talk) 08:01, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  "William Smithies" listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] 

message: An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect :Heliostropolis, Etc. and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at  until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion.  Veverve (talk) 08:01, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Heliostropolis, Etc." listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] 

message: An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect :Heliostropolis, Etc and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at  until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion.  Veverve (talk) 08:02, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Heliostropolis, Etc" listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] 

message: An editor has identified a potential problem with the redirect :One of the People called Quakers and has thus listed it for discussion. This discussion will occur at  until a consensus is reached, and readers of this page are welcome to contribute to the discussion.  Veverve (talk) 08:04, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  "One of the People called Quakers" listed at [[Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion|Redirects for discussion]] 

message: Defoe and the rise of the novel
2409:4065:499:A79D:4021:94F9:3134:1E19 (talk) 12:56, 15 November 2023 (UTC)
replies: text: It is unclear what change you are proposing. Peaceray (talk) 21:39, 15 November 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  English defoe and the rise of the novel  

message: 10 line about life and works of daniel defoe 115.187.42.70 (talk) 16:01, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
replies: text: It is unclear what you want done. Peaceray (talk) 19:12, 23 January 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  English litrature