No locationEvent

Publication of Robinson Crusoe

When
1719
Where
Unspecified
Episodes
2

Daniel Defoe published Robinson Crusoe on 25 April 1719. The novel quickly achieved commercial success, running through four editions before the end of that year. It is widely recognized as a foundational work in the history of the English novel.

Episodes

  1. 1719 · UnspecifiedRapid Editions

    The book ran through four editions before the end of 1719.

  2. 25 April 1719 · UnspecifiedInitial Publication

    Defoe published Robinson Crusoe on 25 April 1719.

Background and detail

Initial Publication. Robinson Crusoe was first published on 25 April 1719. The work is an English adventure novel by Daniel Defoe, who was in his late fifties at the time. It relates the story of a man's shipwreck on a desert island for twenty-eight years and his subsequent adventures.

Commercial Success. The book experienced immediate commercial success. Before the end of 1719, it had already run through four editions. It has since become one of the most widely published books in history, spawning so many imitations that its name is used to define a genre, the Robinsonade.

People involved

Sources

  1. Robinson Crusoe Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-26
  2. Daniel Defoe Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-08

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.