ABSTRACT
Edward Young (1683-1765) had a long career as a writer. Educated at Winchester and Oxford (where he was a Fellow of All Souls), he published his first poem in 1713 and became known in London as a dramatist and as a satirist on a par with Pope. He moved to Welwyn in 1730, where he became rector and wrote The Complaint, or Night Thoughts (1742-5), which brought him a European reputation. His Conjectures on Original Composition belongs to the debate on originality versus imitation which is also discussed in other essays in this collection, by Richard Hurd (No. 128 in Vol. 3 and No. 163 above), and by Joseph Warton (No. 158). Young’s opinions were already widely accepted by the time he wrote this pamphlet.
