John Hawkesworth wrote only one biography, the life of Jonathan Swift, prefixed to his edition (1754-1765) of Swift's works. Better known as an essayist and the editor of An Account of the Voyages, by Capt. James Cook and others (1773), Hawkesworth nevertheless deserves a modest place in the history of literary biography. His "Account of the Author's Life" was the first major attempt at a balanced and objective portrayal of an author's character through judicious weighing of published evidence and opinion.

Hawkesworth spent his childhood in London, where he was born in October 1720, and was the second child of John and Ann Cornford Hawkesworth, who were then living at Tottenham Court. His precise date of birth is unknown, but he was baptized in Old Saint Pancras Church on 28 October 1720. His sister, Honor, was born about a year earlier. His father, a skilled watch engraver by trade, was brought up...