# 1726
1726 (MDCCXXVI) was a common year; in London trade records it fell in the twelfth year of the reign of [George I](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-i), and dates written early in the year carried the Old Style legal-year form, as in 27 January 1725/1726[1](https://lbt.bibsoc.org.uk/index.php?title=Calendar%3A1700s%3A1726). The year's headline events included the founding of the medical faculty at the [University of Edinburgh](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-edinburgh), and the anonymous publication of [Jonathan Swift](https://www.edgepedia.org/jonathan-swift)'s *Gulliver's Travels* in London on November 8 (October 28 Old Style), which sold out within a week[2](https://slashyear.com/1726). A contemporary almanac by "M. F. philomath" reckoned the year as the "Second after Bissextile, or Leap-Year"[3](https://wellcomecollection.org/works/rwa8ejnf).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Calendar | 12 George I in Britain; *Gulliver's Travels* is dated November 8 (October 28 O.S.)[1](https://lbt.bibsoc.org.uk/index.php?title=Calendar%3A1700s%3A1726) • [2](https://slashyear.com/1726) |
| Diplomacy | [2](https://slashyear.com/1726) |
| Russia | The Supreme Privy Council was established on February 8[2](https://slashyear.com/1726) • [4](https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~mercerb/18thC.html) |
| Literature | Swift's *Gulliver's Travels* appeared anonymously on November 8 and sold out within a week; James Thomson began *The Seasons* with "Winter"[2](https://slashyear.com/1726) |
| Medicine and science | A faculty of medicine was formally established at the University of Edinburgh, with John Rutherford as Professor of Practice of Medicine; John Harrison invented the gridiron pendulum[2](https://slashyear.com/1726) |
| Printing | The immense Chinese encyclopedia *Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China* was printed using copper-based movable type[2](https://slashyear.com/1726) |
| Births | James Hutton, the Scottish geologist, born June 3 O.S.; Thomas Pennant, the Welsh naturalist, born June 14 O.S.[2](https://slashyear.com/1726) |
## Political and diplomatic events
**The Austro-Spanish alignment.** Austria, the [Holy Roman Empire](https://www.edgepedia.org/holy-roman-empire), and Spain concluded the First Treaty of Vienna on January 26, forming the Austro-Spanish Alliance ahead of a planned war against Great Britain[2](https://slashyear.com/1726).
**Russia after Peter the Great.** Peter the Great had died in 1725, and on February 8, 1726 the [Supreme Privy Council](https://www.edgepedia.org/supreme-privy-council) was established in Russia[2](https://slashyear.com/1726) • [4](https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~mercerb/18thC.html).
**Ministerial changes.** In Spain, Juan Bautista de Orendáin y Azpilicueta was appointed Secretary of the Universal Bureau (Secretario del Despacho), the equivalent of prime minister, on October 1, after the retirement of José de Grimaldo[2](https://slashyear.com/1726). Grigore II Ghica became Prince of Moldavia for the first time on October 5, after Mihai Racoviță stepped aside[2](https://slashyear.com/1726). Muhammad bin Saud became head of the [House of Saud](https://www.edgepedia.org/house-of-saud) in 1726[2](https://slashyear.com/1726).
**Voltaire in England.** Voltaire began an exile in England on May 1[2](https://slashyear.com/1726).
## Science, medicine and technology
The founding of a faculty of medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 1726, a predecessor of the Edinburgh Medical School, put formal medical teaching on an institutional footing in Scotland, with John Rutherford becoming Professor of Practice of Medicine[2](https://slashyear.com/1726). In precision timekeeping, the English clockmaker [John Harrison](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-harrison) invented the gridiron pendulum in 1726[2](https://slashyear.com/1726).
In Dublin, the Rev. Dr. Caleb Threlkeld published *Synopsis Stirpium Hibernicarum* on October 27[2](https://slashyear.com/1726).
The year's most notorious medical episode was the [Mary Toft](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-toft) affair: from October to December, Mary Toft of Godalming caused a sensation by purporting to give birth to rabbits before the story was revealed as a hoax[2](https://slashyear.com/1726).
## Arts and culture
**Gulliver's Travels.** Jonathan Swift's satirical novel *Gulliver's Travels* was first published anonymously in London on November 8 (October 28 Old Style) and sold out within a week[2](https://slashyear.com/1726). An academic chronology of the long eighteenth century lists it for this year[4](https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~mercerb/18thC.html).
**Publishing and bookselling.** In Edinburgh, Britain's first circulating library was opened on May 25 by the poet and bookseller Allan Ramsay, extending access to books beyond buyers[2](https://slashyear.com/1726). James Thomson began publication of his poem cycle *The Seasons* with "Winter" in 1726[2](https://slashyear.com/1726).
**Music.** In Sweden, women were formally allowed employment at the Kungliga Hovkapellet (Royal Court Orchestra) on October 26, the first officially employed females being Judith Fischer and Sophia Schröder[2](https://slashyear.com/1726).
**China.** The *Complete Classics Collection of Ancient China* (古今图书集成), an immense Chinese encyclopedia, was printed in 1726 using copper-based movable type printing[2](https://slashyear.com/1726).
## Insight: 1726 in early-Enlightenment periodization
Chronologies of the long eighteenth century place 1726 between two markers: the death of [Peter the Great](https://www.edgepedia.org/peter-the-great) and Vico's *New Science* in 1725, and Bach's *St Matthew Passion* in 1729[4](https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~mercerb/18thC.html). The British Academy's *Oxford Dictionary of National Biography* companion project treated the year itself as a unit of study, publishing a dedicated scholarly chapter titled "1726" by the historian John M. Cannon in 2010[5](https://doi.org/10.1093/oseo/instance.00164715).
## Economic and colonial affairs
**The Grand Allies.** On June 27 the Grand Allies, a cartel of coal-owning families in the [Northumberland](https://www.edgepedia.org/northumberland) and Durham Coalfield, was formed by George and Henry Liddell, George Bowes, and Sidney and Edward Wortley[2](https://slashyear.com/1726).
**Colonial North America.** The Nanfan Treaty of July 19, 1701 between the Iroquois Confederacy and the British Province of New York was amended by both parties on September 14, 1726[2](https://slashyear.com/1726).
## Births and deaths
Notable births recorded for the year, given in Old Style dating, include [James Hutton](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-hutton), the Scottish geologist, born June 3 O.S. (died 1797), and Thomas Pennant, the Welsh naturalist and travel writer, born June 14 O.S.[2](https://slashyear.com/1726).
## Contemporary records of the year
Several printed records of 1726 survive. *The Historical Register*, volume XL, compiled for the year, records "the remarkable OCCURRENCES, Births, Marriages, Deaths, Removal, Promotions, &c. that happen'd in this Year", together with "the Characters and Parentage of Persons deceased, of eminent Rank", and prints diplomatic correspondence involving the Dauphin and his ambassador[6](https://archive.org/stream/historicalregis01greegoog/historicalregis01greegoog_djvu.txt). A separate work, *An historical compendium, from the creation, to the year of our Lord 1726*, published in two parts with complete indexes, survives in digitized form and shows the eighteenth-century habit of reading the present year as the endpoint of universal history[7](https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_an-historical-compendium_1726). The almanac by "M. F. philomath" illustrates the annual calendrical publications through which contemporaries kept track of the year[3](https://wellcomecollection.org/works/rwa8ejnf).
## References
1. [Calendar:1700s:1726, London Book Trades (Bibliographical Society)](https://lbt.bibsoc.org.uk/index.php?title=Calendar%3A1700s%3A1726)
2. [1726 CE — events, births and deaths, slashyear.com](https://slashyear.com/1726)
3. [An almanack for the year of our Lord God 1726, by M. F. philomath, Wellcome Collection](https://wellcomecollection.org/works/rwa8ejnf)
4. [Chronology: the 'Long' Eighteenth Century, University of Pennsylvania](https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~mercerb/18thC.html)
5. [John M. Cannon, "1726", British Academy eBooks, 2010](https://doi.org/10.1093/oseo/instance.00164715)
6. [The Historical Register, Volume XL, For the Year 1726, Internet Archive](https://archive.org/stream/historicalregis01greegoog/historicalregis01greegoog_djvu.txt)
7. [An historical compendium, from the creation, to the year of our Lord 1726 (1726), Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_an-historical-compendium_1726)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › History and archaeology › General historical chronologies › Year articles, early modern (1501–1800)*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license