Addison was born in Milston, Wiltshire, but shortly after his birth, his father, Lancelot Addison, was appointed Dean of Lichfield, and the family relocated to the cathedral grounds. His father was an erudite English clergyman. Joseph was educated at Charterhouse School in London, where he met Richard Steele, and at The Queen's College, Oxford. He excelled in classics, particularly in Neo-Latin verse, and was appointed a fellow of Magdalen College. In 1693, he wrote a poem for John Dryden, and his first major work, a book about the lives of English poets, was published in 1694. His translation of Virgil's Georgics was released the following year.
The Spectator was a daily periodical in England published by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele that ran from 1711-1712. Each ""paper"" or ""number"" was around 2,500 words long, with the first run consisting of 555 numbers commencing on March 1, 1711. These were gathered in seven volumes. The periodical was relaunched without Steele's involvement in 1714, appearing three times a week for six months, and these papers were compiled into the eighth book. The publication also included contributions by Addison's cousin, Eustace Budgell, and poet John Hughes.
