Jonathan Swift: Quick Facts

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Oct. 30, 2026

News •

Gulliver fans celebrate three centuries of Jonathan Swift’s classic satire • Oct. 28, 2026, 9:30 AM ET (The Guardian)

Facts

Also Known As	Isaac Bickerstaff
Born	November 30, 1667 • Dublin • Ireland
Died	October 19, 1745 (aged 77) • Dublin • Ireland
Notable Works	“A Modest Proposal” • “A Tale of a Tub” • “Argument Against Abolishing Christianity” • “Drapier’s Letters” • “Gulliver’s Travels” • “Journal to Stella” • “The Conduct of the Allies” • “Verses on the Death of Dr. Swift”

Photos

Illustration of Lemuel Gulliver lying on the ground, tied down by tiny Lilliputians, with crowds and small buildings in the background, from Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.

St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland, features Gothic architecture with pointed arches, tall spires, and a large central tower, surrounded by green lawns and trees.

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Daniel Defoe, engraving by M. Van der Gucht, after a portrait by J. Taverner, first half of the 18th century.

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John Gay, oil painting by William Aikman; in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh.

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Thomas Parnell, detail of an engraving

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Gulliver in Lilliput. Lemuel Gulliver, set ashore after a mutiny, regains consciousness and finds himself a prisoner of the Lilliputians. From Gulliver's Travels, Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts by Jonathan Swift.

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