1638 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1638 in literature involved some significant events.
Events
- February 6 - LuminaliaLuminaliaLuminalia or The Festival of Light was a late Caroline era masque or "operatic show", with an English libretto by Sir William Davenant, designs by Inigo Jones, and music by composer Nicholas Lanier...
, a 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...
written by Sir William DavenantWilliam DavenantSir William Davenant , also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned both the Caroline and Restoration eras and who was active both before and after the English Civil...
and designed by Inigo JonesInigo JonesInigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
, is staged at the English Court. - March 27 - 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...
perform 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...
's tragedy Bussy D'AmboisBussy D'AmboisThe Tragedy of Bussy D'Ambois is a Jacobean stage play written by George Chapman. Classified as either a tragedy or "contemporary history," Bussy D'Ambois is widely considered Chapman's greatest play, and is the earliest in a series of plays that Chapman wrote about the French political scene in...
at Court. - October 27 - the King's Men act 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...
's VolponeVolponeVolpone is a comedy by Ben Jonson first produced in 1606, drawing on elements of city comedy, black comedy and beast fable...
at the Blackfriars TheatreBlackfriars TheatreBlackfriars Theatre was the name of a theatre in the Blackfriars district of the City of London during the Renaissance. The theatre began as a venue for child actors associated with the Queen's chapel choirs; in this function, the theatre hosted some of the most innovative drama of Elizabeth and...
. - Swiss engraver Matthäus MerianMatthäus MerianMatthäus Merian der Ältere was a Swiss-born engraver who worked in Frankfurt for most of his career, where he also ran a publishing house.-Early life and marriage:...
produces his illustrated view of London.
New books
- Méric CasaubonMéric CasaubonMéric Casaubon , son of Isaac Casaubon, was a French-English classical scholar...
- A Treatise of Use and Custom - Johann Amos ComeniusComeniusJohn Amos Comenius ; ; Latinized: Iohannes Amos Comenius) was a Czech teacher, educator, and writer. He served as the last bishop of Unity of the Brethren, and became a religious refugee and one of the earliest champions of universal education, a concept eventually set forth in his book Didactica...
- Janua Linguarum Reserata, or a Seed-Plot of All Languages and Sciences - Sir Kenelm DigbyKenelm DigbySir Kenelm Digby was an English courtier and diplomat. He was also a highly reputed natural philosopher, and known as a leading Roman Catholic intellectual and Blackloist. For his versatility, Anthony à Wood called him the "magazine of all arts".-Early life and career:He was born at Gayhurst,...
- A Conference With a Lady About a Choice of Religion - Robert FluddRobert FluddRobert Fludd, also known as Robertus de Fluctibus was a prominent English Paracelsian physician, astrologer, mathematician, cosmologist, Qabalist, Rosicrucian apologist...
- Philosophia Moysaica - John LilburneJohn LilburneJohn Lilburne , also known as Freeborn John, was an English political Leveller before, during and after English Civil Wars 1642-1650. He coined the term "freeborn rights", defining them as rights with which every human being is born, as opposed to rights bestowed by government or human law...
- A Work of the Beast - Philip MassingerPhilip MassingerPhilip Massinger was an English dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including A New Way to Pay Old Debts, The City Madam and The Roman Actor, are noted for their satire and realism, and their political and social themes.-Early life:The son of Arthur Massinger or Messenger, he was baptized at St....
- The Duke of MilanThe Duke of MilanThe Duke of Milan is a Jacobean era stage play, a tragedy written by Philip Massinger. First published in 1623, the play is generally considered among the author's finest achievements in drama.-Performance:...
(second quarto) - Captain John UnderhillCaptain John UnderhillJohn Underhill was an early English settler and soldier in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the Province of New Hampshire, the New Haven Colony, New Netherland, and later the Province of New York...
- News from America, or a New and Experimental Discovery of New England - John WilkinsJohn WilkinsJohn Wilkins FRS was an English clergyman, natural philosopher and author, as well as a founder of the Invisible College and one of the founders of the Royal Society, and Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death....
- The Discovery of a World in the Moon - Juan Rodriguez Freyle -El CarneroEl CarneroThe Billygoat in its native language, is perhaps the most important novel of the Colombian colonial times. It is a historical and costumes chronicle written in 1638 by the American-born Juan Rodríguez Freyle...
New drama
- Richard BromeRichard BromeRichard Brome was an English dramatist of the Caroline era.-Life:Virtually nothing is known about Brome's private life. Repeated allusions in contemporary works, like Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair, indicate that Brome started out as a servant of Jonson, in some capacity...
- The Antipodes - Antonio CoelloAntonio CoelloAntonio Coello was a Spanish dramatist and poet. He entered the household of the duke de Albuquerque, and after some years of service in the army received the order of Santiago in 1648...
- El conde de Sex, o Dar la vida por su dama - Pierre CorneillePierre CorneillePierre Corneille was a French tragedian who was one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine...
- Le CidLe CidLe Cid is a tragicomedy written by Pierre Corneille and published in 1636. It is based on the legend of El Cid.The play followed Corneille's first true tragedy, Médée, produced in 1635. An enormous popular success, Corneille's Le Cid was the subject of a heated polemic over the norms of dramatic...
(first English translation) - Abraham CowleyAbraham CowleyAbraham Cowley was an English poet born in the City of London late in 1618. He was one of the leading English poets of the 17th century, with 14 printings of his Works published between 1668 and 1721.-Early life and career:...
- Naufragium Joculare (in LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
) - William DavenantWilliam DavenantSir William Davenant , also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned both the Caroline and Restoration eras and who was active both before and after the English Civil...
- The Unfortunate Lovers
- The Fair Favorite
- LuminaliaLuminaliaLuminalia or The Festival of Light was a late Caroline era masque or "operatic show", with an English libretto by Sir William Davenant, designs by Inigo Jones, and music by composer Nicholas Lanier...
(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...
) - Brittania Triumphans (masque)
- John FordJohn Ford (dramatist)John Ford was an English Jacobean and Caroline playwright and poet born in Ilsington in Devon in 1586.-Life and work:...
- The Lady's TrialThe Lady's TrialThe Lady's Trial is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy by John Ford. Published in 1639, it was the last of Ford's plays to appear in print, and apparently the final work of Ford's dramatic career....
licensed - The Fancies Chaste and NobleThe Fancies Chaste and NobleThe Fancies Chaste and Noble is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by John Ford, and notable for its treatment of the then-fashionable topic of Platonic love.-Date and performance:...
published
- The Lady's Trial
- 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:...
- The Wise Woman of Hogsdon published - William Johnson - Valetudinarium (in LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
) - Thomas Jordan (attributed) - The Wasp
- Henry Killigrew – The Conspiracy published
- John Kirke (?) or Wentworth SmithWentworth SmithWentworth Smith , was a minor English dramatist of the Elizabethan period who may have been responsible for some of the plays in the Shakespeare Apocrypha, though no work known to be his is extant.-Life and career:...
(?) - The Seven Champions of Christendom published - Tirso de MolinaTirso de MolinaTirso de Molina was a Spanish Baroque dramatist, poet and a Roman Catholic monk.Originally Gabriel Téllez, he was born in Madrid. He studied at Alcalá de Henares, joined the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy on November 4, 1600, and entered the Monastery of San Antolín at Guadalajara,...
- Las Quinas de Portugal - Thomas NabbesThomas NabbesThomas Nabbes was an English dramatist.He was born in humble circumstances in Worcestershire, and educated at Exeter College, Oxford in 1621...
- The Bride - Thomas RandolphThomas Randolph (poet)Thomas Randolph was an English poet and dramatist. He was baptized on 18 June 1605 and was the uncle of American colonist William Randolph.-Education:...
- Amyntas, or the Impossible Dowry published - William Rowley - A Shoemaker a GentlemanA Shoemaker a GentlemanA Shoemaker a Gentleman is a Jacobean era stage play, a comedy written by William Rowley. It may be Rowley's only extant solo comedy.A Shoemaker a Gentleman is a Jacobean era stage play, a comedy written by William Rowley. It may be Rowley's only extant solo comedy.A Shoemaker a Gentleman is a...
published - Pierre du RyerPierre du RyerPierre du Ryer was a French dramatist.He was born in Paris. His early comedies are loosely modelled on those of Alexandre Hardy, but after the production of the Cid he became an imitator of Pierre Corneille; this was the period when he produced his masterpiece Scévole, probably in 1644...
- Alcione - Henry Shirley - The Martyr'd Soldier published
- James ShirleyJames ShirleyJames Shirley was an English dramatist.He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of this period, not so much for any transcendent genius in himself, as that he was the last of a great race, all of whom spoke nearly...
- The Royal MasterThe Royal MasterThe Royal Master is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by James Shirley, and first published in 1638. The play is "ranked by many critics as Shirley's ablest work in romantic comedy...It is a play notable for well-knit plot, effective scenes, pleasing characterization, clever dialogue, and...
performed and published - The Duke's MistressThe Duke's MistressThe Duke's Mistress is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by James Shirley and first published in 1638. It was the last of Shirley's plays produced before the major break in his career: with the closing of the London theatres due to bubonic plague in May 1636, Shirley left England for...
published
- The Royal Master
- Sir John SucklingJohn Suckling (poet)Sir John Suckling was an English poet and one prominent figure among those renowned for careless gaiety, wit, and all the accomplishments of a Cavalier poet; and also the inventor of the card game Cribbage...
- The GoblinsThe GoblinsThe Goblins is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Sir John Suckling. It was premiered on the stage in 1638 and first published in 1646.-Performance and publication:...
New poetry
- John Barclay - The Mirror of Minds (posthumous)
- Richard BraithwaiteRichard BraithwaiteRichard Braithwaite or Brathwait was an English poet.He was born near Kendal, and educated at Oxford. He is believed to have served with the Royalist army in the Civil War...
(alias "Corymbaeus") - Barnabee's Journal (In Latin and English versions) - Abraham Cowley - Love's Riddle
- William DavenantWilliam DavenantSir William Davenant , also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned both the Caroline and Restoration eras and who was active both before and after the English Civil...
- Madagascar, with other Poems - Francis Lenton - Great Britain's Beauties; or, The Female Glory Epitomized
- Shackerley MarmionShackerley MarmionShackerley Marmion , also Shakerley, Shakerly, Schackerley, Marmyon, Marmyun, or Mermion, was an early 17th-century dramatist, often classed among the Sons of Ben, the followers of Ben Jonson who continued his style of comedy...
- A Funeral Sacrifice, to the Sacred Memory of his Thrice-Honored Father, Ben Jonson - 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...
- LycidasLycidas"Lycidas" is a poem by John Milton, written in 1637 as a pastoral elegy. It first appeared in a 1638 collection of elegies, entitled Justa Edouardo King Naufrago, dedicated to the memory of Edward King, a collegemate of Milton's at Cambridge who drowned when his ship sank in the Irish Sea off the...
Births
- January 24 - Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of DorsetCharles Sackville, 6th Earl of DorsetCharles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset and 1st Earl of Middlesex was an English poet and courtier.-Early Life:He was son of Richard Sackville, 5th Earl of Dorset...
, poet (died 1706) - May 13 - Richard SimonRichard SimonRichard Simon was a French Oratorian, influential advanced biblical critic, orientalist, and controversialist.-Early years:...
, Biblical commentator (died 1712) - August 6 - Nicolas MalebrancheNicolas MalebrancheNicolas Malebranche ; was a French Oratorian and rationalist philosopher. In his works, he sought to synthesize the thought of St. Augustine and Descartes, in order to demonstrate the active role of God in every aspect of the world...
, philosopher (died 1715) - October - Edmé BoursaultEdmé BoursaultEdmé Boursault was a French dramatist and miscellaneous writer, born at Mussy l'Evéque, now Mussy-sur-Seine ....
, dramatist (died 1701)
Deaths
- January 27 - Gonzalo de Céspedes y MenesesGonzalo de Céspedes y MenesesGonzalo de Céspedes y Meneses was a Spanish novelist.-Biography:He was born at Madrid about 1585. Nothing positive is known of him before the publication of his celebrated romance, the Poema trágico del español Gerardo, y desengaño del amor lascivo...
, novelist (born c.1585) - June 25 - Juan Pérez de MontalbánJuan Pérez de MontalbánJuan Pérez de Montalbán , Spanish Catholic priest, dramatist, poet and novelist, was born at Madrid.At the age of eighteen he became a licentiate in theology, was ordained priest in 1625 and appointed notary to the Inquisition...
, dramatist, poet and novelist (born c.1602) - December 8 - Ivan GundulićIvan GundulicIvan Franov Gundulić is the most celebrated Croatian Baroque poet from the Republic of Ragusa. His work embodies central characteristics of Roman Catholic Counter-Reformation: religious fervor, insistence on "vanity of this world" and zeal in opposition to "infidels." Gundulić's major...
, poet (born 1589) - date unknown - Jeremias DrexelJeremias DrexelJeremias Drexel S.J. was a Jesuit writer of devotional literature and a professor of the humanities and rhetoric...
, Jesuit writer (born 1581)