FRENEAU, fre'n6., Philip, American poet: b. New York. 2 Jan. 1752; d. near Freehold, N. J., 18 Dec. 1832. Graduated from Princeton in 1771, he was captured in 1780, during a, voy age to the West Indies, by an English cruiser, and his experiences while under detention be later recorded in
He wrote also several volumes of prose, pub lished under the pseudonym °Robert Slender' and of small merit. Until recently his poetry has been strangely neglected; but in 1901 ap peared a biography by Austin, and in 1903 an edition of the poems, with a 'Life,' prepared by F. L. Pattee. During Freneau's life there were editions in 1786, 1788, 1809 and 1815. There were reprints of the 1786 edition in 1861 and 1865. Consult further, De Lancey, E. F., 'Philip Freneau; the Huguenot Patriot Poet of the Revolution' (New York 1891) ; Forman, S. E., 'Political Activities of Philip Freneau' (Baltimore 1902) ; More, P. E., 'Shelburne Es says' (New York 1908) ; Paltsits, 'Bibliog raphy of the Works of Freneau) (ib; 1903) ; Tyler, 'Literary History of the American Revo lution' (1897) ; and Wendell, 'Literary History of America' (1900).