17th century in literature
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- 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.
- 1667–68 – Marianna Alcoforado writes her Letters of a Portuguese Nun.
- 1671–1696 – Madame de Sévigné writes her famous letters.
- Metaphysical 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
- (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
- Jersulam 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
- (play) – Thomas Middleton and William Rowley
- 1618
- – John Selden
- (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
- – Tirso de Molina
- The Countess of Montgomery's Urania – Lady Mary Wroth
- 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
- – 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 partly-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)
- 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 –
- 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
- Lucasta – Richard Lovelace (posthumous)
- Pharonnida – William Chamberlayne
- 1661
- Elementa jurisprudentiae universalis libri duo 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)
- 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
- 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
- Hayy ibn Yaqdhan by Ibn Tufail – translated into Latin by Edward Pococke the Younger as Philosophus Autodidactus
- 1672
- Bajacet (play) by Jean Racine
- Marriage à la mode by John Dryden
- The Rehearsal (play) by George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham published
- Hayy ibn Yaqdhan by Ibn Tufail – translated into Dutch by Johannes Bouwmeester
- 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
- Hayy ibn Yaqdhan by Ibn Tufail – translated into English by George Ashwell
- 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
- 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
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
Wikisource reference work[]
The First Half of the Seventeenth Century (1906) by Herbert J. C. Grierson. Periods of European Literature series, vol. 7. George Edward Bateman Saintsbury, ed. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons.
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
External links[]
Media related to 17th-century literature at Wikimedia Commons
- Bartleby - Table of Principal Dates
Categories:
- 17th-century literature
- 17th-century books
- History of literature
- Early Modern literature