author
Sir Richard Steele
1672–1729
Best known for helping invent the friendly, conversational essay, this Anglo-Irish writer brought everyday life, manners, and morals into the new world of periodicals. His work with Joseph Addison on The Tatler and The Spectator helped shape modern journalism and eighteenth-century literary culture.
13 Audiobooks
The Spectator, Volumes 1, 2 and 3 With Translations and Index for the Series
by Joseph Addison, Sir Richard Steele
The Spectator, Volume 2.
by Joseph Addison, Sir Richard Steele
The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays
by Joseph Addison, Sir Richard Steele
The De Coverley Papers, From 'The Spectator'
by Joseph Addison, Eustace Budgell, Sir Richard Steele
The Tatler, Volume 1
by Sir Richard Steele, Joseph Addison
The Sir Roger de Coverley Papers
by Joseph Addison, Eustace Budgell, Sir Richard Steele
The Tatler, Volume 4
by Sir Richard Steele, Joseph Addison
The Tatler, Volume 2
by Sir Richard Steele, Joseph Addison
Days with Sir Roger De Coverley
by Joseph Addison, Sir Richard Steele
The Tatler, Volume 3
by Sir Richard Steele, Joseph Addison
The Coverley Papers, From 'The Spectator'
by Joseph Addison, Eustace Budgell, Sir Richard Steele
Isaac Bickerstaff, Physician and Astrologer
by Sir Richard Steele
Richard Steele Edited, with an Introduction and Notes by G. A. Aitken
by Sir Richard Steele
About the author
Born in Dublin and baptized in March 1672, Sir Richard Steele became an essayist, playwright, journalist, and politician whose writing reached a wide public in early eighteenth-century Britain. He was educated at Charterhouse, where he formed a lasting friendship with Joseph Addison, and later spent time at Oxford before entering the army.
Steele is most remembered as the driving force behind The Tatler and, with Addison, The Spectator. These periodicals mixed wit, observation, and moral reflection, turning coffeehouse talk and daily social life into lively prose that ordinary readers could follow and enjoy. He also wrote for the stage, including The Conscious Lovers, and his work helped popularize a more sentimental style in comedy.
His life was often energetic and unsettled, with stretches of political activity, financial trouble, and public controversy. Even so, his best writing remained warm, humane, and curious about how people actually live, which is a big part of why he still feels approachable today.