1654 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1654 in literature involved some significant events.
Events
- Lady Dorothy OsborneDorothy OsborneDorothy Osborne, Lady Temple was a British writer of letters and wife of Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet.-Life:Osborne was born at Chicksands Priory, Bedfordshire, England, the youngest of ten children born to a staunchly Royalist family. Her father was the nobleman Sir Peter Osborne, who was the...
plays the lead role in a country-house staging of Sir William Berkeley's tragicomedyTragicomedyTragicomedy is fictional work that blends aspects of the genres of tragedy and comedy. In English literature, from Shakespeare's time to the nineteenth century, tragicomedy referred to a serious play with either a happy ending or enough jokes throughout the play to lighten the mood.-Classical...
The Lost Lady. While the London theatres remain closed, amateur theatricals continue at private houses in England. Like performances of courtly masques before 1642, many of these performances feature women, foreshadowing the acceptance of professional women performers in the early RestorationEnglish RestorationThe Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
era.
New books
- Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of OrreryRoger Boyle, 1st Earl of OrreryRoger Boyle redirects here. For others of this name, see Roger Boyle Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery was a British soldier, statesman and dramatist. He was the third surviving son of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork and Richard's second wife, Catherine Fenton. He was created Baron of Broghill on...
- Parlhenissa, a novel - John MiltonJohn MiltonJohn Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
- Defensio SecundaDefensio SecundaDefension Secunda was a 1654 political tract by John Milton, a sequel to his Defensio pro Populo Anglicano. It is a defence of the Parliamentary regime, by then controlled by Oliver Cromwell; and also defense of his own reputation against a royalist tract published under the name Salmasius in 1652,... - Richard Whitlock, Zootomia
Drama
- Anonymous - Alphonsus Emperor of Germany published (wrongly attributed to George ChapmanGeorge ChapmanGeorge Chapman was an English dramatist, translator, and poet. He was a classical scholar, and his work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman has been identified as the Rival Poet of Shakespeare's Sonnets by William Minto, and as an anticipator of the Metaphysical Poets...
) - Richard FlecknoeRichard FlecknoeRichard Flecknoe , English dramatist and poet, the object of Dryden's satire, was probably of English birth, although there is no corroboration of the suggestion of Joseph Gillow, that he was a nephew of a Jesuit priest, William Flecknoe, or more properly Flexney, of Oxford.The few known facts of...
- Love's Dominion - Henry GlapthorneHenry GlapthorneHenry Glapthorne was a Caroline era dramatist.Glapthorne was baptized in Cambridgeshire, the son of Thomas Glapthorne and Faith nee Hatcliff. His father was a bailiff of Lady Hatton, the wife of Sir Edward Coke...
(?) - Revenge for Honour published (wrongly attributed to George Chapman) - James HowellJames HowellJames Howell was a 17th-century Anglo-Welsh historian and writer who is in many ways a representative figure of his age. The son of a Welsh clergyman, he was for much of his life in the shadow of his elder brother Thomas Howell, who became Lord Bishop of Bristol.-Education:In 1613 he gained his B.A...
- The Nuptials of Peleus and Thetis (published) - Thomas Jordan - Cupid His Coronation
- Thomas MayThomas MayThomas May was an English poet, dramatist and historian of the Renaissance era.- Early life and career until 1630 :...
- Two Tragedies, viz. Cleopatra and Agrippina (published) - Robert Mead - The Combat of Love and Friendship (published)
- Agustín Moreto - El desdén, con el desdén (first published)
- Philippe QuinaultPhilippe QuinaultPhilippe Quinault , French dramatist and librettist, was born in Paris.- Biography :Quinault was educated by the liberality of François Tristan l'Hermite, the author of Marianne. Quinault's first play was produced at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in 1653, when he was only eighteen...
- L'Amant indiscret - Joost van den VondelJoost van den VondelJoost van den Vondel was a Dutch writer and playwright. He is considered the most prominent Dutch poet and playwright of the 17th century. His plays are the ones from that period that are still most frequently performed, and his epic Joannes de Boetgezant , on the life of John the Baptist, has...
- Lucifer - 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...
(& Thomas HeywoodThomas HeywoodThomas Heywood was a prominent English playwright, actor, and author whose peak period of activity falls between late Elizabethan and early Jacobean theatre.-Early years:...
?) - Appius and VirginiaAppius and VirginiaAppius and Virginia is an early 17th-century stage play, a tragedy by John Webster . It is the third and least famous of his tragedies, after The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi.-Heywood:...
(published)
Births
- March - Anne LefèvreAnne LefèvreAnne Le Fèvre Dacier , better known during her lifetime as Madame Dacier, was a French scholar and translator of the classics....
, better known as Madame Dacier (died 1720) - March 16 - Andreas AcoluthusAndreas AcoluthusAndreas Acoluthus was a German scholar of orientalism and professor of theology at Breslau . A native of Bernstadt , Lower Silesia, he was the son of Johannes Acoluthus, pastor of St. Elisabeth and superintendent of the churches and schools of Breslau.- Early life and education :He attended the...
, Orientalist (died 1704) - June 24 - Thomas Fuller, physician, preacher and writer (died 1734)
Deaths
- February 19 - Edmund ChilmeadEdmund ChilmeadEdmund Chilmead was an English writer and translator, who produced both scholarly works and hack writing. He is also known as a musician.He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he graduated M.A. in 1631...
, writer and translator (born 1610) - November 30
- William HabingtonWilliam HabingtonWilliam Habington was an English poet.He was born at Hindlip Hall, Worcestershire, and belonged to a well-known Catholic family...
, poet (born 1605) - John SeldenJohn SeldenJohn Selden was an English jurist and a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law...
, jurist, scholar (born 1584)
- William Habington
- date unknown
- Robert Carr, 1st Earl of AncramRobert Carr, 1st Earl of AncramRobert Kerr , 1st Earl of Ancram , was a Scottish nobleman and writer.-Biography:He descended from a third son of Sir Andrew Kerr of Ferniehurst, and entered public life as laird of Ancrum in Roxburghshire...
, Scottish nobleman and writer (born c.1578) - Edward MisseldenEdward MisseldenEdward Misselden was an English merchant, and leading member of the writers in the Mercantilist group of economic thought. He argued that international movements of specie and fluctuations in the exchange rate depended upon the international trade flows and not the manipulations of the bankers,...
, Mercantilist writer (born 1608) - John TaylorJohn Taylor (poet)John Taylor was an English poet who dubbed himself "The Water Poet".-Biography:He was born in Gloucester, 24 August 1578....
, poet (born 1580)
- Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Ancram