Home > 17th century in literature

1 Events

• 1660- 1669 - Samuel Pepys writes his diary.
• 1667- 1668 - Marianna Alcoforado writes her Letters of a Portuguese Nun.

2 New Books/Plays

1600

• Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
• England's Helicon (anthology) - including work by Edmund Spenser, Michael DraytonMichael Drayton ( 1563- December 23, 1631) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era. He was born at Hartshill, near Atherstone, Warwickshire. Even in childhood he showed some poetic ambition. At the age of ten he found a position, Thomas LodgeThomas Lodge (c. 1558- 1625) was an English dramatist and writer of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. He was born about 1558 at West Ham, the second son of Sir Thomas Lodge, who was Lord Mayor of London in 1562-1563. He was educated at Merchant Taylor, Philip SidneySir Philip Sidney ( November 30, 1554 October 17, 1586) became one of the Elizabethan Age's most prominent figures. Famous in his day in England as a poet, courtier and soldier, he remains known as a writer of sonnets. Born at Penshurst, Kent, he was the and others
• Old Fortunatus - Thomas DekkerThomas Dekker (~1570 ~1632) was an Elizabethan dramatist and pamphleteer. He is thought to have been born in London, but little else is known about his life, apart from the fact that he spent time (including the years 1613-1619) in prison for debt. The fi

1601For other uses, see Number 1601. Events February 8 Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, rebels against Elizabeth I of England revolt is quickly crushed February 25 Robert Devereux beheaded Jesuit Matteo Ricci arrives in China Bad harvest in Russia due to r

• Twelfth NightTwelfth Night, or What You Will is a comedy by William Shakespeare. The play is so named after the Twelfth Night holiday. Since it is difficult to see any allusion to Epiphany in the play, many suspect the play was written to be performed for the court of, or What You Will by William Shakespeare
• Cynthia's Revells - Ben JonsonBenjamin Jonson ( June 11, 1572 August 6, 1637) was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. He is best known for his plays Volpone and The Alchemist his garrulous personality, and his tempestuous rivalry with William Shakespeare. Biography Early

1602For the Marvel comic, see 1602 (comic). Events February 14 William Shakespeare First performance of Twelfth Night on Candlemas March 20 The Dutch East India Company is established as The United East India Company by the Dutch States-General May 15 Bartolo

• Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare
• Antonio and Mellida (play) - John Marston
• Mirum in Modum (poetry) - John Davies of Hereford
• Satiromastix (play) - Thomas Dekker and John Marston
• A Survey of Cornwall - Richard Carew

1603

• The True Law of Free Monarchies by King James I
• Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare
• Othello by William Shakespeare

1604

• All's Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare
• The Honest Whore (play) - Thomas Dekker
• The Malcontent (play) - John Marston

1605

• Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare
• The Dutch Courtesan (play) - John Marston
• The Tragedy of Philotas (play) - Samuel Daniel
• The Tragedy of King Lear by William Shakespeare
• Don Quixote (El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha), Part I - Miguel de Cervantes
• Epistle concerning the Excellencies of the English Tongue - Richard Carew

1606

• Macbeth by William Shakespeare
• Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare

1607

• A Woman Killed with Kindness (play) - Thomas Heywood
• Bussy D'Ambois (play) - George Chapman
• Michaelmas Terme (play) - Thomas Middleton
• The Knight of the Burning Pestle (play) - Francis Beaumont
• The Famous History of Sir Thomas Wyat (play) - Thomas Dekker and John Webster
• The Legend of Great Cromwell - Michael Drayton
• Pericles, Prince of Tyre by William Shakespeare
• The Revenger’s Tragedy by Cyril Tourneur

1608

• Coriolanus by William Shakespeare
• A Nest of Ninnies - Robert Armin
• Humour out of Breathe (play) - John Day
• The Belman of London (play) - Thomas Dekker
• The Merry Devil of Edmonton (play) - anonymous; has been attributed to William Shakespeare, Michael Drayton and others.

1609

• The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare
• Fourre Birds of Noahs Arke - Thomas Dekker
• The Gul's Hornebooke - Thomas Dekker

1610

• Cymbeline by William Shakespeare
• The Faithful Shepherdess (play) - John Fletcher

A Woman's a Weathercock (1612), Amends for Ladies (1618), and (with Massinger) The Fatal Dowry (1632).

1611

• The Authorized Version (King James version) of the Bible
• The Tempest by William Shakespeare
• Catiline his Conspiracy (play) - Ben Jonson
• The Roaring Girle (play) - Thomas Dekker and Thomas Middleton

1612

• A Woman is a Weather-Cocke - Nathaniel Field

1613

• Henry VIII by William Shakespeare
• Tears on the Death of Moeliades - William Drummond of Hawthornden
• The Revenge of Bussy D'Ambois - George Chapman
• Purchas, his Pilgrimage; or, Relations of the World and the Religions observed in all Ages - Samuel Purchas

1614

• Bartholomew Fair (play) - Ben Jonson

1615

• Don Quixote, Part II - Miguel de Cervantes

1616

• Ben Jonson's Works
• The Whole Works of Homer - George Chapman
• The Bloody Brother (?1616-30?) - John Fletcher, Ben Jonson, Philip Massinger, George Chapman (The drinking song)

1617

• A Faire Quarrell (play) - Thomas Middleton and William Rowley

1618

• History of Tythes - John Selden
• Amends for Ladies (play) - Nathaniel Field

1619

• A King and No King (play) - Beaumont and Fletcher
• The Maid's Tragedy (play) - Beaumont and Fletcher
• The Shoemaker's Holiday - Thomas Deloney
• The Custome of the Countrey - John Fletcher and Philip Massinger

1620

• Philaster - Beaumont and Fletcher

1621

• The Anatomy of Melancholy - Robert Burton
• Women Beware Women - Thomas Middleton
• El vergonzoso en palacio - Tirso de Molina

1622

• The Heir (play) - Thomas May
• The Historie of the Raigne of King Henry the Seventh - Francis Bacon
• The French Disease - Richard Brome
• The Beggar's Bush - John Fletcher
• El tejedor de Segovia - Alercon
• The Changeling - Thomas Middleton and William Rowley text

1623

• A Fault in Friendship - Richard Brome
• Flowers of Sion - William Drummond of Hawthornden
• The Duchess of Malfi - John Webster
• First Folio - William Shakespeare

1624

• The City-Night-Cap (comedy) - Robert Davenport
• Nero Caesar, or Monarchie Depraved - Edmund Bolton
• The Sun's Darling - John Ford

1625

• A Game at Chess - Thomas Middleton
• Complete Essays - Francis Bacon
• Les Bergeries - Racan

1627

• The Bataile of Agincourt - Michael Drayton
• First Steps up Parnassus - Michael Drayton

1628

• Microcosmographie - John Earle

1629

• The Roman Actor (play) - Philip Massinger
• The Tragedy of Albovine (play) - William D'Avenant

1630

• The Conceited Pedlar - Thomas Randolph

1631

• The Fair Maid of the West (play) - Thomas Heywood

1632

• L'Allegro - John Milton
• The Fatal Dowry (play) - Nathaniel Field and Philip Massinger
• The City Madam - Philip Massinger
• The Muses’ Looking-Glass by Thomas Randolph

1633

• A New Way to Pay Old Debts (play) - Philip Massinger
• Love's Sacrifice (play) - John Ford
• The Gamester (play) - James Shirley
• The Temple (poetry) - George Herbert

1634

• Tottenham Court (play) - Thomas Nabbes

1636

• The Royal Slave (play) - William Cartwright

1637

• The Pleasant Historie of Albino and Bellama - Nathaniel Whiting

1638

• Alcione (play) - Pierre du Ryer

1639

• Argalus and Parthenia (play) - Henry Glapthorne
• The City Match - Jasper Mayne

1640

• Dodona's Grove - James Howell
• The Bay Psalm Book, the first book printed in North America
• Joseph's partly-coloured Coat - Thomas Fuller

1641

• Episcopacy by Divine Right - Joseph Hall
• The Cardinall (play) - James Shirley (first extant edition, 1652)
• A Joviall Crew (play) - Richard Brome (first extant edition, 1652)
• Fragmenta Regalia, or Observations on the late Queen Elizabeth, her Times and Favourites - Sir Robert Naunton (posthumous)

1642

• September: Playhouses closed in England by government order.
• Religio Medici Sir Thomas Browne
• Saul (play) by Pierre du Ryer

1644

• Areopagitica by John Milton

1646

• Andronicus or the Unfortunate Politician - Thomas Fuller
• Pseudodoxia Epidemica or Vulgar Errors - Sir Thomas Browne

1647

• Philosophical Poems - Henry More

1648

• The Amorous War - Jasper Mayne
• Hesperides by Robert Herrick (poet)

1649

• Eikon Basilike - John Gauden

1650

• Silex scintillans - Henry Vaughan

1651

• Leviathan - Thomas Hobbes
• Reliquiae Wottonianiae - Sir Henry Wotton (posthumous)
• Jeune Alcidiane - Marin le Roy de Gomberville

1652

• Brief Character of the Low Countries - Owen Feltham
• Theophilia or Love's Sacrifice (poetry) - Edward Benlowes
• The Cardinall (play) - James Shirley

1653

• A History of New England - Edward Johnson
• The Compleat Angler - Izaak Walton
• Poems and Fancies - Margaret Cavendish

1654

• Lucifer (play) - Joost van den Vondel
• Parlhenissa, a novel - Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery

1655

• The Worlds Olio - Margaret Cavendish

1656

Nature's Pictures - Margaret Cavendish

1657

1658

• Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial - Sir Thomas Browne
• The Garden of Cyrus -Sir Thomas Browne

1659

• Lucasta - Richard Lovelace (posthumous)
• Pharonnida - William Chamberlayne

1661

• Tyrannus, or The Mode - John Evelyn

1662

• A new edition of the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England (this edition remains the officially authorised book to the present day).

1664

• Love's Kingdom, with a Discourse of the English Stage - Richard Flecknoe

1665

• A Moral Essay preferring Solitude to Public Employment - Sir George Mackenzie
• Memoires of François Bassompierre (posthumous)

1666

• Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan

1667

• Paradise Lost by John Milton
• Annus Mirabilis, the Year of Wonders 1666 - John Dryden
• Secret Love (play) - John Dryden

1668

• Le Tartuffe - Molière
• Cyprianus Anglicanus - Peter Heylin
• Essay of Dramatick Poesie - John Dryden
• Observations upon Experimental Philosophy - Margaret Cavendish

1670

• The Forced Marriage - Aphra Behn
• The Conquest of Granada - John Dryden

1671

• Samson Agonistes - John Milton
• The Rehearsal (play) - George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham performed

1672

• Marriage a la Mode by John Dryden
• The Rehearsal (play) by George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham published

• Navigation and Commerce - John Evelyn
• The Tragedy of Nero, Emperour of Rome (play) - Nathaniel Lee

• The Country Wife by William Wycherley
• Gerania; a New Discovery of a Little Sort of People, anciently discoursed of, called Pygmies by Joshua Barnes

• The Man of Mode (play) - George Etherege
• English-Adventures by a Person of Honor - Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery

• Phèdre - Jean Racine
• Treatise of the Art of War - Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery

• All for Love - John Dryden
• The True Intellectual System of the Universe - Ralph Cudworth
• The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
• Threnodia Carolina - Sir Thomas Herbert

• Anima Mundi - Charles Blount

• The Life and Death of Mr Badman - John Bunyan

• Miscellaneous Poems by Andrew Marvell (posthumous)
• Absalom and Achitophel by John Dryden

• The Hind and the Panther - John Dryden
• The Hind and the Panther Transversed to the Story of the Country and the City Mouse - Matthew Prior
• Bellamira, or The Mistress (play) - Sir Charles Sedley

• The Massacre of Paris (play) - Nathaniel Lee
• Table Talk - John Selden (posthumous)

• Amphitryon, or the Two Socias - John Dryden
• Essay Concerning Human Understanding - John Locke
• Memoires of the Navy by Samuel Pepys

• The Impartial Critick - John Dennis

• The Fatal Marriage (play) - Thomas Southerne

• A New Voyage Round the World - William Dampier

• The Campaigners (play) - Thomas D'Urfey

• Dialogues of the Dead - William King and Charles Boyle