author
Joseph Addison
1672–1719
Best known for helping shape the lively essay style of the early 1700s, this English writer brought wit, clarity, and conversation into print. His work with Richard Steele on The Tatler and The Spectator helped define a new kind of literary journalism.
14 Audiobooks
The Tatler, Volume 1
by Sir Richard Steele, Joseph Addison
The Spectator, Volumes 1, 2 and 3 With Translations and Index for the Series
by Joseph Addison, Sir Richard Steele
The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays
by Joseph Addison, Sir Richard Steele
The Poetical Works of Addison; Gay's Fables; and Somerville's Chase With Memoirs and Critical Dissertations, by the Rev. George Gilfillan
by Joseph Addison, John Gay, William Somerville
The Spectator, Volume 2.
by Joseph Addison, Sir Richard Steele
The De Coverley Papers, From 'The Spectator'
by Joseph Addison, Eustace Budgell, Sir Richard Steele
Essays and Tales
by Joseph Addison
Cato: A Tragedy, in Five Acts
by Joseph Addison
The Tatler, Volume 4
by Sir Richard Steele, Joseph Addison
The Sir Roger de Coverley Papers
by Joseph Addison, Eustace Budgell, Sir Richard Steele
The Tatler, Volume 2
by Sir Richard Steele, Joseph Addison
The Tatler, Volume 3
by Sir Richard Steele, Joseph Addison
The Coverley Papers, From 'The Spectator'
by Joseph Addison, Eustace Budgell, Sir Richard Steele
Days with Sir Roger De Coverley
by Joseph Addison, Sir Richard Steele
About the author
Born in Milston, Wiltshire, on May 1, 1672, Joseph Addison became one of the most admired essayists of his age. He was also a poet, dramatist, and politician, but readers most often remember him for the graceful, readable prose that made serious ideas feel approachable.
Addison worked closely with his friend Richard Steele and was a leading force behind The Tatler and especially The Spectator. Those periodicals mixed commentary, humor, moral reflection, and observations of everyday life, and they had a lasting influence on English prose and periodical writing.
His poem The Campaign helped raise his public profile, and his career later included important government posts, including secretary of state. He died in London on June 17, 1719, but his essays remained widely read for generations and are still valued for their intelligence, balance, and easy style.