Crusoe: Daniel Defoe -- Katherine Frank -- c. 2004

Crusoe: Daniel Defoe, Robert Knox, and the Creation of a Myth 

Katherine Frank

c. 2004

DDS: 823FRA

Chapter One: Two Writing Men, London, 1719

Defoe: poor; in debt; surrounded by women (wives, sisters) in his rented home north of London; 60 years old; stole the name Robinson Crusoe from childhood friend, Timothy Cruso (without the "e")

Robert Knox: well-off; retired sea captain; nearly 80, writing letters to his cousin, Reverend John Strype, also about 80 years old; Knox has no wife or children; in home north of London, but a bit south of Defoe

1660: Robert Knox, age 19, and his father, taken captive on Ceylon; would not see England again for 20 years

Robert Knox escaped in 1680, or thereabouts, and published a bestseller in 1861

Among its many early buyers and readers was a young London wholesaler of hosiery and cloth in Freeman's Yard named Daniel Foe.

In 1719, by then, had reinvented himself as Daniel DeFoe.

Robinson Crusoe written in four months.

Chapter Two: Crusoe's Secret, London, 1719 - 20

The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe -- published April, 1719

Becomes an overnight sensation. DeFoe sold the book and the rights to a printer for 50 English pounds.

Illicitly ran as 78 serial installments in a newspaper called The Original London Post. Continued to run until late March, 1720 (the installments began October 7, 1719).

Defoe is the father of the English novel.