1691 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1691 in literature involved some significant events.
Events
- The first of eight volumes of Letters Writ by a Turkish Spy Who Lived Five and Forty Years Undiscover'd at Paris is published; subsequent volumes are issued through 16941694 in literatureThe year 1694 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*Jonathan Swift is ordained a clergyman.*The death of Queen Mary II of England prompts numerous elegies.-New books:* Edmund Arwaker - An Epistle to Monsieur Boileau...
. The project is a hoax: Volume 1 is actually the work of Italian writer Giovanni Paolo Marana, with Englishmen Roger Manley, Robert Midgeley, and William Bradshaw contributing to later volumes.
New books
- Gerard LangbaineGerard LangbaineGerard Langbaine was an English dramatic biographer and critic, best known for his An Account of the English Dramatic Poets , the earliest work to give biographical and critical information on the playwrights of English Renaissance theatre...
- An Account of the English Dramatic Poets - Sir Dudley North - Discourses upon Trade
- The Kingdom of Ireland
New drama
- Anonymous - The Braggadocio, or Bawd Turn'd Puritan
- John Bancroft - Edward III, with the Fall of Mortimer, Earl of March
- David-Augustin de BrueysDavid-Augustin de BrueysDavid-Augustin de Brueys was a French theologian and dramatist. He was born in Aix-en-Provence. His family was Calvinist, and he studied theology. After writing a critique of Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet's work, he was in turn converted to Catholicism by Bossuet, and later became a priest.After his...
& Jean PalapratJean PalapratJean Palaprat , was a French lawyer and playwright.Palaprat was born in Toulouse. He mostly co-authored plays with David-Augustin de Brueys; many were premièred at the Comédie-Française and Théâtre-Français in Paris. Their plays were published posthumously in Les Œuvres de théâtre de Messieurs...
- Le Muet - John DrydenJohn DrydenJohn Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.Walter Scott called him "Glorious John." He was made Poet...
- King Arthur, or the British Worthy (a "semi-opera" with music by Henry PurcellHenry PurcellHenry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
) - Thomas d'UrfeyThomas d'UrfeyThomas D'Urfey was an English writer and wit. He composed plays, songs, and poetry, in addition to writing jokes. He was an important innovator and contributor in the evolution of the Ballad opera....
- Love for Money - Joseph Harris - The Mistakes
- William MountfortWilliam MountfortWilliam Mountfort , English actor and dramatic writer, was the son of a Staffordshire gentleman.His first stage appearance was with the Dorset Garden company about 1678, and by 1682 he was taking important parts, usually those of the fine gentleman. Mountfort wrote a number of plays, wholly or in...
- Greenwich Park - Jean RacineJean RacineJean Racine , baptismal name Jean-Baptiste Racine , was a French dramatist, one of the "Big Three" of 17th-century France , and one of the most important literary figures in the Western tradition...
- AthalieAthalieAthalie is the final tragedy of Jean Racine, and has been described as the masterpiece of 'one of the greatest literary artists known' and the 'ripest work' of Racine's genius... - Thomas SoutherneThomas SoutherneThomas Southerne , Irish dramatist, was born at Oxmantown, near Dublin, in 1660, and entered Trinity College, Dublin in 1676. Two years later he was entered at the Middle Temple, London....
- The Wives' Excuse, or Cuckolds Make Themselves - Cave Underhill - Win Her and Take Her
- John Wilson - Belphegor, or the Marriage of the Devil published
Births
- February 27 - Edward CaveEdward CaveEdward Cave was an English printer, editor and publisher. In The Gentleman's Magazine he created the first general-interest "magazine" in the modern sense....
, printer and publisher (died 1754) - April 9 - Johann Matthias GesnerJohann Matthias GesnerJohann Matthias Gesner was a German classical scholar and schoolmaster.He was born at Roth an der Rednitz near Ansbach. His father, Johann Samuel Gesner, a pastor in Auhausen, died in 1704, leaving the family in straitened circumstances...
, classical commentator (died 1761) - date unknown - John LelandJohn Leland (Presbyterian)John Leland was an English Presbyterian minister and author of theological works.Leland was born in Wigan, Lancashire on October 18, 1691. He was educated in Dublin, Ireland , and went into the ministry there. He received his Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of Aberdeen in 1739. His...
, theologian (died 1766)
Deaths
- July 30 - Daniel Georg MorhofDaniel Georg MorhofDaniel Georg Morhof was a German writer and scholar.He was born at Wismar. He first studied jurisprudence and then literae humaniores at the University of Rostock, where his elegant Latin versification procured for him in 1660 the chair of poetry...
, German writer and critic (born 1639) - October 10 - Isaac de BenseradeIsaac de BenseradeIsaac de Benserade was a French poet.Born in Lyons-la-Forêt in the Province of Normandy, his family appears to have been connected with Richelieu, who bestowed on him a pension of 600 livres. He began his literary career with the tragedy of Cléopâtre , which was followed by four other pieces...
, French poet (born 1613) - December 8 - Richard BaxterRichard BaxterRichard Baxter was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymn-writer, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he made his reputation by his ministry at Kidderminster, and at around the same time began a long...
, religious leader and writer (born 1615) - date unknown - John FlavelJohn FlavelJohn Flavel was an English Presbyterian clergyman and author.-Life:Flavel was born at Bromsgrove, Worcestershire and studied at Oxford. Ordained as a Presbyterian in 1650, though later a Congregationalist, he held livings at Diptford and Dartmouth...
, religious writer (born 1627) - probable - Samuel PordageSamuel PordageSamuel Pordage was a 17th century English poet. He is best known by his Azaria and Hushai , a reply to John Dryden's Absalom and Achitophel.-Life:...
, poet