This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 17th century.

__TOC__

  • 1605–1615 – Miguel de Cervantes writes the two parts of Don Quixote.
  • 1616: April – Death of both William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes.
  • 1630-1651: William Bradford writes Of Plymouth Plantation, journals that are considered the most authoritative account of the Pilgrims and their government.
  • 1660–1669 – Samuel Pepys writes his diary which not only covers his life but also the daily and historic events in London during his time.
  • 1667–68 – Marianna Alcoforado writes her Letters of a Portuguese Nun.
  • 1671–1696 – Madame de Sévigné writes her famous letters.
  • Metaphysical poets - a term made by Samuel Johnson for a group of 17th century English poets.
  • German literature of the Baroque period

New books and plays

:1600

  • Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare
  • England's Helicon (anthology) – including work by Edmund Spenser, Michael Drayton, Thomas Lodge, Philip Sidney and others
  • Old Fortunatus – Thomas Dekker
  • The Spanish Moor's Tragedy – Thomas Dekker, John Marston, and William Haughton

:1601

  • Twelfth Night, or What You Will by William Shakespeare
  • Cynthia's Revels – Ben Jonson
  • Disputationes Metaphysicae by Francisco Suárez first published
  • Satiromastix – Thomas Dekker

:1602

  • Rymes by Lope de Vega
  • 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 VI and I
  • Ane Godlie Dreame (poem) by Elizabeth Melville published in Edinburgh
  • Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare
  • Othello by William Shakespeare
  • The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe (published)

: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 Wyatt (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 Thomas Middleton

: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
  • Jerusalem Conquered (epic poem) by Lope de Vega
  • Fourre Birds of Noahs Arke – Thomas Dekker

:1610

  • Sidereus Nuncius by Galileo Galilei
  • Cymbeline by William Shakespeare
  • The Faithful Shepherdess (play) – John Fletcher

:1611

  • Fuente Ovejuna (play) – Lope de Vega
  • 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

  • Four Soluloquies – Lope de Vega
  • El comendador de Ocaña (Ocaña's mayor) – Lope de Vega
  • A Woman is a Weather-Cocke – Nathan Field

:1613

  • Soledades – Luis de Góngora
  • La dama boba (the fool lady) – Lope de Vega
  • The Dog in the Manger (play) – Lope de Vega
  • 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
  • La Lira by Giambattista Marino
  • Fama fraternitatis Roseae Crucis oder Die Bruderschaft des Ordens der Rosenkreuzer – Johannes Valentinus Andreae

:1615

  • Don Quixote, Part II – Miguel de Cervantes
  • El caballero de Olmedo (The knight from Olmedo) (play) – Lope de Vega
  • Confessio oder Bekenntnis der Societät und Bruderschaft Rosenkreuz – Johannes Valentinus Andreae

:1616

  • Ben Jonson's Works
  • The Whole Works of Homer – George Chapman
  • Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosencreutz Anno 1459 – Johannes Valentinus Andreae
  • Rollo, Duke of Normandy (also known as The Bloody Brother) (?1616–30?) – John Fletcher, Ben Jonson, Philip Massinger, George Chapman (The drinking song)

:1617

  • Warenar (play) by Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft
  • A Faire Quarrell (play) – Thomas Middleton and William Rowley

:1618

  • History of Tythes – John Selden
  • Amends for Ladies (play) – Nathan 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
  • Reipublicae Christianopolitanae descriptio – Johannes Valentinus Andreae

:1620

  • Philaster – Beaumont and Fletcher

:1621

  • The Anatomy of Melancholy – Robert Burton
  • Women Beware Women – Thomas Middleton
  • El vergonzoso en palacio – Tirso de Molina
  • The Countess of Montgomery's Urania – Lady Mary Wroth

:1623

  • 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 – Juan Ruiz de Alarcón
  • The Changeling – Thomas Middleton and William Rowley text

:1623

  • L'Adone by Giambattista Marino
  • Love, honour and power (play) – Pedro Calderón de la Barca
  • The Duchess of Malfi – John Webster
  • First Folio – William Shakespeare

:1624

  • Circe (poem) bu Lope de Vega
  • Nero Caesar, or Monarchie Depraved – Edmund Bolton
  • The Sun's Darling – John Ford

:1625

  • De jure belli ac pacis by Hugo Grotius
  • Complete Essays – Francis Bacon
  • Les Bergeries – Racan

:1626

  • El Buscón – Francisco de Quevedo

:1627

  • England's schim (play) – Pedro Calderón de la Barca
  • The Bataile of Agincourt – Michael Drayton
  • First Steps up Parnassus – Michael Drayton

:1628

  • Microcosmographie – John Earle

:1629

  • The Roman Actor (play) – Philip Massinger
  • La Dama Duende (play) – Pedro Calderón de la Barca
  • The Tragedy of Albovine (play) – William D'Avenant

:1630

  • The Conceited Pedlar – Thomas Randolph

:1631

  • The punishment without vengeance (play) – Lope de Vega

:1632

  • L'Allegro – John Milton
  • La Dorotea – Lope de Vega
  • The Fatal Dowry (play) – Nathan Field and Philip Massinger
  • Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems by Galileo Galilei
  • 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

  • Life is a dream (play) – Pedro Calderón de la Barca
  • Le Cid (play) – Pierre Corneille

:1637

  • La Vega del Parnaso (Parnasos' river bank) – Lope de Vega
  • Discourse on the Method – René Descartes

:1638

  • Two New Sciences by Galileo Galilei
  • Alcione (play) – Pierre du Ryer

:1639

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

:1640

  • Horace (play) – Pierre Corneille
  • The Bay Psalm Book, the first book printed in North America
  • Joseph's coloured Coat – Thomas Fuller

:1641

  • Meditations on First Philosophy – René Descartes
  • 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)

:1642

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

:1644

  • Principles of Philosophy – René Descartes
  • 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)
  • Padmavati – Alaol (in Bengali)

:1649

  • Eikon Basilike – John Gauden

:1650

  • Silex scintillans – Henry Vaughan

:1651

  • El alcalde de Zalamea – Pedro Calderón de la Barca
  • 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
  • The Princess Cloria – Percy Herbert, 2nd Baron Powis

:1654

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

:1655

  • L'Étourdi ou les Contretemps first play by Molière

:1656

  • El gran teatro del mundo (World's great theatre) (play) – Pedro Calderón de la Barca
  • Nature's Pictures – Margaret Cavendish
  • Oceana by James Harrington

:1657

  • Guárdate del agua mansa (Keep out from silent waters) – Pedro Calderón de la Barca
  • Katharina von Georgien (play) by Andreas Gryphius

:1658

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

:1659

  • Sati Mayna O Lorchandrani – Alaol (in Bengali)
  • Lucasta – Richard Lovelace (posthumous)
  • Pharonnida – William Chamberlayne

:1660

  • Tohfa – Alaol (in Bengali)

:1661

  • ' by Samuel von Pufendorf

: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

  • La Thébaïde (play) – Jean Racine

:1665

  • Alexandre le Grand (Alexander the Great) (play) – Jean Racine
  • Memoires of François Bassompierre (posthumous)
  • Saptapaykar – Alaol (in Bengali)

:1666

  • Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan

:1667

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

:1668

  • Le Tartuffe – Molière
  • The Miser – Molière
  • Simplicius Simplicissimus – Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen
  • Cyprianus Anglicanus – Peter Heylin
  • Essay of Dramatick Poesie – John Dryden
  • Observations upon Experimental Philosophy – Margaret Cavendish

:1669

  • Saifulmuluk O Badiujjamal – Alaol (in Bengali)

:1670

  • Pensées by Blaise Pascal
  • The Conquest of Granada – John Dryden

:1671

  • Madame de Sévigné writes her first letter
  • Samson Agonistes – John Milton
  • The Rehearsal (play) – George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham performed
  • Sikandarnama – Alaol (in Bengali)

:1672

  • Bajacet (play) by Jean Racine
  • Marriage à la mode by John Dryden
  • The Rehearsal (play) by George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham published

:1674

  • Iphigénie (play) by Jean Racine
  • The Tragedy of Nero, Emperour of Rome (play) – Nathaniel Lee

:1675

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

:1676

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

:1677

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

:1678

  • 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

:1679

  • Anima Mundi – Charles Blount

:1680

  • The Life and Death of Mr Badman – John Bunyan

:1681

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

:1682

  • The Life of an Amorous Man (好色一代男, Kōshoku Ichidai Otoko) by Ihara Saikaku

:1685

  • Five Women Who Loved Love (好色五人女, Kōshoku Gonin Onna) by Ihara Saikaku

:1686

  • The Life of an Amorous Woman (好色一代女, Kōshoku Ichidai Onna) by Ihara Saikaku

:1687

  • Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica - Isaac Newton
  • 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 Great Mirror of Male Love (The Encyclopedia of Male Love) (男色大鑑, Nanshoku Okagami) by Ihara Saikaku

:1688

  • The Eternal Storehouse of Japan (日本永代蔵, Nippon Eitaigura) by Ihara Saikaku

:1689

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

:1690

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

:1691

  • Athalie (play) – Jean Racine

:1692

  • Reckonings that Carry Men Through the World or This Scheming World (世間胸算用, Seken Munazan'yō) by Ihara Saikaku

:1693

  • The Impartial Critick – John Dennis

:1694

  • The Fatal Marriage (play) – Thomas Southerne

:1696

  • Louis de Rouvroy, Duc de Saint-Simon starts writings his Memoirs

:1697

  • A New Voyage Round the World – William Dampier

:1698

  • The Campaigners (play) – Thomas D'Urfey

:1699

  • Dialogues of the Dead – William King and Charles Boyle

Translations

  • The Bible - translated into Italian by Giovanni Diodati
  • Don Quixote - translated into Italian by Lorenzo Franciosini
  • Euclid's Elements - translated into Chinese by Xu Guangqi
  • Hayy ibn Yaqdhan by Ibn Tufail – translated into Latin by Edward Pococke the Younger, translated into Dutch by Johannes Bouwmeester, and translated into English by George Ashwell
  • The works of Tacitus - translated into Italian by Adriano Politi

Births

  • 1600 – Marin le Roy de Gomberville
  • 1601 – Baltasar Gracián
  • 1602 – Jean-Jacques Boissard
  • 1603 – Pierre Corneille
  • 1605 – Thomas Browne
  • 1607 – Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla
  • 1608 – Padre António Vieira/ John Milton
  • 1609 – Jean Rotrou
  • 1611 – William Cartwright; Thomas Urquhart
  • 1613 – John Cleveland
  • 1615 – Tanneguy Lefebvre
  • 1617 – Ralph Cudworth
  • 1620 – Lucy Hutchinson
  • 1621 – Hans Jakob Christoph von Grimmelshausen
  • 1622 – Molière
  • 1623 – Blaise Pascal
  • 1625 – Thomas Corneille
  • 1626 – Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné
  • 1627 – John Flavel
  • 1628 – Miguel de Molinos
  • 1630 – Isaac Barrow
  • 1631 – John Dryden
  • 1632 – John Locke
  • 1632 – Baruch Spinoza
  • 1633 – Samuel Pepys
  • 1639 – Thomas Ellwood
  • 1640 – Aphra Behn
  • 1642 – Isaac Newton
  • 1643 – Gilbert Burnet
  • 1644 – Matsuo Bashō
  • 1646 – Gottfried Leibniz
  • 1648 – Robert Barclay
  • 1651 – William Dampier
  • 1652 – Thomas Otway
  • 1657 – Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle
  • 1667 – Jonathan Swift
  • 1668 – Alain-René Lesage
  • 1675 – Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon
  • 1681 – Robert Keith
  • 1685 – George Berkeley
  • 1689 – Samuel Richardson
  • 1694 – Voltaire
  • 1698 – Metastasio

Deaths

  • 1600 – Richard Hooker (theologian)
  • 1605 – John Stow
  • 1607 – Sir Edward Dyer
  • 1612 – Juan de la Cueva; Robert Armin
  • 1615 – Mateo Alemán
  • 1616 – William Shakespeare; Miguel de Cervantes; Francis Beaumont; Richard Hakluyt
  • 1621 – Guillaume du Vair
  • 1623 – William Camden
  • 1624 – Stephen Gosson
  • 1625 – John Fletcher; Thomas Lodge
  • 1626 – Lancelot Andrewes; Samuel Purchas
  • 1627 – Luis de Góngora
  • 1631 – Michael Drayton; Guillén de Castro y Bellvis
  • 1633 – Abraham Fraunce
  • 1634 – George Chapman
  • 1635 – Lope de Vega; Thomas Randolph; Richard Corbet; John Hall (son-in-law of Shakespeare)
  • 1638 – Robert Aytoun
  • 1639 – Juan Ruiz de Alarcón
  • 1640 – Philip Massinger; Robert Burton
  • 1641 – Augustine Baker
  • 1643 – William Cartwright
  • 1644 – Luis Vélez de Guevara; Francis Quarles
  • 1645 – Francisco de Quevedo; William Lithgow
  • 1647 – Francis Meres
  • 1648 – Tirso de Molina; Alonso de Castillo Solórzano; George Abbot; Vincent Voiture
  • 1650 – René Descartes
  • 1658 – Baltasar Gracián; Pierre du Ryer
  • 1660 – Thomas Urquhart
  • 1661 – María de Zayas y Sotomayor
  • 1662 – François le Métel de Boisrobert
  • 1667 – Georges de Scudéry
  • 1672 – Anne Bradstreet; Tanneguy Lefebvre
  • 1673 – Molière
  • 1674 – Marin le Roy de Gomberville
  • 1676 – Hans Jakob Christoph von Grimmelshausen
  • 1678 – Andrew Marvell
  • 1679 – Thomas Hobbes
  • 1681 – Pedro Calderón de la Barca
  • 1682 – Thomas Browne
  • 1685 – Thomas Otway
  • 1688 – John Bunyan; Ralph Cudworth
  • 1689 – Aphra Behn
  • 1691 – Richard Baxter; John Flavel
  • 1696 – Miguel de Molinos; Madame de Sévigné

See also

  • 17th century in poetry
  • German literature of the Baroque period
  • French literature of the 17th century
  • Early Modern English literature
  • Baroque literature
  • Early Modern literature
  • 16th century in literature
  • 1700 in literature
  • 18th century in literature
  • list of years in literature

References