Addison, Joseph (1672–1719)

English poet and dramatist, and one of the most celebrated of English essayists. In 1704 he commemorated Marlborough's victory at Blenheim in a poem commissioned by the government, ‘The Campaign’. He subsequently held political appointments and was a Member of Parliament for Malmesbury from 1708 until his death. From 1709 to 1711 he contributed to the Tatler magazine, begun by Richard Steele, with whom he was cofounder in 1711–12 of the Spectator.

His neoclassical blank verse tragedy Cato (1713) was highly respected in the 18th century, but as a poet and dramatist Addison formerly held a much higher place than he now does. His essays, however, set a new standard of easy elegance in English prose and his work foreshadows modern journalism.

Addison was born at Milston rectory, near Amesbury, Wiltshire. He was educated at Charterhouse, where he was a fellow pupil of Richard Steele, and Oxford University.

In December 1715 he launched a periodical published in support of the government entitled The Freeholder. In 1716 he published an unsuccessful prose comedy, The Drummer, and married the Dowager Countess of Warwick. He became lord commissioner of trade in 1716, and he was appointed secretary of state under the Earl of Sunderland in 1717 but retired from office in 1718 on grounds of illness.

Addison's style is polished and graceful, and his essays are characterized by a lively imagination and original humour. While primarily an entertainer, and condescending elegantly to his readers, many of them female, he aimed at provoking serious if not profound thought, and at improving manners and taste.