1604 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1604 in literature involved some significant events.
Events
- Isaac CasaubonIsaac CasaubonIsaac Casaubon was a classical scholar and philologist, first in France and then later in England, regarded by many of his time as the most learned in Europe.-Early life:...
becomes sub-librarian of the royal library in Paris. - Construction of the Red Bull TheatreRed Bull TheatreThe Red Bull was a playhouse in London during the 17th century. For more than four decades, it entertained audiences drawn primarily from the northern suburbs, developing a reputation for rowdy, often disruptive audiences...
in London. - The King's MenKing's Men (playing company)The King's Men was the company of actors to which William Shakespeare belonged through most of his career. Formerly known as The Lord Chamberlain's Men during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it became The King's Men in 1603 when King James ascended the throne and became the company's patron.The...
act A Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
at Court on the evening of January 1; they perform OthelloOthelloThe Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
on November 1 and The Merry Wives of WindsorThe Merry Wives of WindsorThe Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare, first published in 1602, though believed to have been written prior to 1597. It features the fat knight Sir John Falstaff, and is Shakespeare's only play to deal exclusively with contemporary Elizabethan era English middle class life...
on November 4, both at Whitehall Palace; they act Measure for MeasureMeasure for MeasureMeasure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. It was classified as comedy, but its mood defies those expectations. As a result and for a variety of reasons, some critics have labelled it as one of Shakespeare's problem plays...
at Court on December 26, and The Comedy of ErrorsThe Comedy of ErrorsThe Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...
on December 28. A report from December indicates that the King's Men were performing a play on the politically sensitive subject of the Gowrie Conspiracy; the play was suppressed and has not survived — but did not impact the company's general success. - The last performances of the BeverleyBeverleyBeverley is a market town, civil parish and the county town of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, located between the River Hull and the Westwood. The town is noted for Beverley Minster and architecturally-significant religious buildings along New Walk and other areas, as well as the Beverley...
miracle playsMystery playMystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song...
occur in 1604.
New books
- William Alexander, 1st Earl of StirlingWilliam Alexander, 1st Earl of StirlingWilliam Alexander, Earl of Stirling was a Scotsman who was an early developer of Scottish colonisation of Port Royal, Nova Scotia and Long Island, New York...
- The Monarchic Tragedies; includes Croesus and Darius, two closet dramas - Thomas Dekker - News from Gravesend
- - The Meeting of Gallants at an Ordinary
- Elizabeth Grymeston - Miscellanea: prayers, meditations, memoratives
- King James IJames I of EnglandJames VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
- A Counterblast to Tobacco - Christopher MarloweChristopher MarloweChristopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...
- Doctor FaustusThe Tragical History of Doctor FaustusThe Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, commonly referred to simply as Doctor Faustus, is a play by Christopher Marlowe, based on the Faust story, in which a man sells his soul to the devil for power and knowledge...
(first quarto - the "A text") - Samuel RowlandsSamuel RowlandsSamuel Rowlands , English author of pamphlets in prose and verse, which reflect the follies and humours of the lower middle-class life of his time, seems to have had no contemporary literary reputation; but his work throws considerable light on the development of popular literature and social life...
- Look to It for I'll Stab Ye - John StowJohn StowJohn Stow was an English historian and antiquarian.-Early life:The son of Thomas Stow, a tallow-chandler, he was born about 1525 in London, in the parish of St Michael, Cornhill. His father's whole rent for his house and garden was only 6s. 6d. a year, and Stow in his youth fetched milk every...
- Revised edition of Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles
New drama
- Samuel DanielSamuel DanielSamuel Daniel was an English poet and historian.-Early life:Daniel was born near Taunton in Somerset, the son of a music-master. He was the brother of lutenist and composer John Danyel. Their sister Rosa was Edmund Spenser's model for Rosalind in his The Shepherd's Calendar; she eventually married...
- Philotas; The Vision of the Twelve GoddessesThe Vision of the Twelve GoddessesThe Vision of the Twelve Goddesses was an early Jacobean era masque, written by Samuel Daniel and performed in the Great Hall of Hampton Court Palace on the evening of Sunday, January 8, 1604...
(masqueMasqueThe masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
) - Thomas Dekker & Thomas MiddletonThomas MiddletonThomas Middleton was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. Middleton stands with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson as among the most successful and prolific of playwrights who wrote their best plays during the Jacobean period. He was one of the few Renaissance dramatists to achieve equal success in...
- The Honest Whore, Part 1 - Thomas Dekker and John WebsterJohn WebsterJohn Webster was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, which are often regarded as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. He was a contemporary of William Shakespeare.- Biography :Webster's life is obscure, and the dates...
- Westward HoWestward Ho (play)Westward Ho is an early Jacobean era stage play, a satire and city comedy by Thomas Dekker and John Webster that was first published in 1607... - Ben JonsonBen JonsonBenjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
& Thomas Dekker - The Coronation TriumphThe Coronation TriumphThe Coronation Triumph is a Jacobean era literary work, usually classed as an "entertainment," written by Ben Jonson for the coronation of King James I and performed on 15 March 1604. Jonson's work was half of a total performance, the other half written by Thomas Dekker... - John MarstonJohn MarstonJohn Marston was an English poet, playwright and satirist during the late Elizabethan and Jacobean periods...
- The MalcontentThe MalcontentThe Malcontent is an early Jacobean stage play written by the dramatist and satirist John Marston ca. 1603. The play was one of Marston's most successful works.... - Thomas Middleton - Michaelmas TermMichaelmas termMichaelmas term is the first academic term of the academic years of the following British and Irish universities:*University of Cambridge*University of Oxford*University of St...
- William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
- HamletHamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
published (second quarto, a "good" quarto as opposed to the 16031603 in literatureThe year 1603 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*Ben Jonson and Thomas Dekker collaborate on a pageant to welcome the new king James I of England.*Thomas Middleton gets married.*Chronicler Richard Baker, is knighted by James I....
"bad quartoBad quartoBad quarto is a term and concept developed by twentieth-century Shakespeare scholars to explain some problems in the early transmission of the texts of Shakespearean works...
", Q1)
Poetry
- Bernardo de BalbuenaBernardo de BalbuenaBernardo de Balbuena was a Spanish poet. He was the first of a long series of Latin American poets who extolled the special beauties of the New World.- Life :...
- La Grandeza Mexicana (Mexico's Grandeur) - Nicholas BretonNicholas BretonNicholas Breton , English poet and novelist, belonged to an old family settled at Layer Breton, Essex.-Life:...
- The Passionate Shepherd - Anthony Scoloker - Daiphantus, or the Passions of Love
Births
- May 10 - Jean MairetJean MairetJean Mairet was a classical French dramatist who wrote both tragedies and comedies.- Life :He was born at Besançon, and went to Paris to study at the Collège des Grassins about 1625. In that year he produced his first piece Chryséide et Arimand...
, dramatist (died 1686) - October 16 - Assoucy, burlesque poet (died 1677)
- date unknown
- Isaac AmbroseIsaac AmbroseIsaac Ambrose was an English Puritan divine, the son of Richard Ambrose, vicar of Ormskirk, and was probably descended from the Ambroses of Lowick in Furness, a well-known Roman Catholic family....
, diarist (died c1663) - Charles CotinCharles CotinCharles Cotin or Abbé Cotin was a French abbé, philosopher and poet. He was made a member of the Académie française on 7 January 1655....
, philosopher and poet (died 1681) - Nicholas FrenchNicholas FrenchNicholas French , Roman Catholic Bishop of Ferns, was an Irish political activist and pamphleteer, who was born at Wexford....
, pamphleteer (died 1678) - Jasper MayneJasper MayneJasper Mayne was an English clergyman, translator, and a minor poet and dramatist.Mayne was baptized at Hatherleigh, Devon, on 23 November 1604, and educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford...
, dramatist (died 1672)
- Isaac Ambrose
Deaths
- February 25 - Manuel da CostaManuel da CostaManuel da Costa was a Jesuit and bibliographer from Lisbon. After teaching humanities and theology at several schools, like Coimbra where most of the Jesuit letters were available in uncensored form, he was chosen rector of Braga, then missionary to the Azores; he was distinguished by his zeal...
, Jesuit historian (born 1541) - March 4 - Fausto Paolo SozziniFausto Paolo SozziniFausto Paolo Sozzini, also known as Faustus Socinus or Faust Socyn was an Italian theologian and founder of the school of Christian thought known as "Socinianism" and the main theologian of Polish Brethren .-Life:Sozzini was born at Siena, the only son of Alessandro Sozzini and...
, theologian (born 1539) - March 13 - Arnaud d'OssatArnaud d'OssatArnaud d'Ossat was a French diplomat and writer, and a Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, whose personal tact and diplomatic skill steered the perilous course of French diplomacy with the Papacy in the reign of Henry IV of France.-Early life and studies:Arnaud d'Ossat was born at...
, diplomat and writer (born 1537) - June 24 - Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of OxfordEdward de Vere, 17th Earl of OxfordEdward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford was an Elizabethan courtier, playwright, lyric poet, sportsman and patron of the arts, and is currently the most popular alternative candidate proposed for the authorship of Shakespeare's works....
(born 1550) - August 3 - Bernardino de MendozaBernardino de MendozaBernardino de Mendoza was a Spanish military commander, a diplomat and a writer on military history and politics.- Life and works :Bernardino de Mendoza was born in Guadalajara, Spain around 1540...
, military historian (born c1540) - September 10 - William MorganWilliam Morgan (Bible translator)William Morgan was Bishop of Llandaff and of St Asaph, and the translator of the first version of the whole Bible into Welsh from Greek and Hebrew.-Life:...
, Bible translator (born 1545) - October 8 - Janus DousaJanus DousaJanus Dousa [Jan van der Does] lord of Noordwyck , Dutch statesman, historian, poet and philologist, the first Librarian of Leiden University Library and the defender of Leiden,-Biography:...
, historian and poet (born 1545) - date unknown
- Thomas ChurchyardThomas ChurchyardThomas Churchyard , English author, was born at Shrewsbury, the son of a farmer.-Life:Churchyard received a good education, and, having speedily dissipated at court the money with which his father provided him, he entered the household of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey...
, poet (born c1520) - Isabella AndreiniIsabella AndreiniIsabella Andreini , also known as Isabella Da Padova, was an Italian actress and writer.Isabella Andreini was a member of the Compagnia dei Comici Gelosi, an important touring theatre company that performed for the highest social circles of Italy and France...
, actress and writer (born 1564) - Juan Jose MartiJuan Jose MartiJuan Jose Marti , Spanish novelist, was born at Orihuela, Province of Alicante about 1570. He graduated as bachelor of canon law at Valencia in 1591, and in 1598 took his degree as doctor of canon law; in the latter year he was appointed co-examiner in canon law at the University of Valencia, and...
, novelist (born c1570) - Thomas StorerThomas StorerThomas Storer was an English poet.Storer was born in London, England around 1571, and in 1587, enrolled into Christ Church, Oxford where he would attain his degree of M.A. in 1594. Toward the latter end of that year, Storer wrote the Life and Death of Cardinal Wolsey — a piece which illustrated...
, poet (born c1571)
- Thomas Churchyard