1642 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1642 in literature involved some significant events.
Events
- May - 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...
marries Marie Powell. - September 2 - The theatres in London are closed by the PuritanPuritanThe Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
government; the "lascivious mirth and levity" of stage plays are to "cease and be forborn" for the next eighteen years, during the English Civil WarEnglish Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
and the InterregnumEnglish InterregnumThe English Interregnum was the period of parliamentary and military rule by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the Commonwealth of England after the English Civil War...
. Reportedly 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...
's A Jovial CrewA Jovial CrewA Jovial Crew, or the Merry Beggars is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Richard Brome. First staged in 1641 or 1642 and first published in 1652, it is generally ranked as one of Brome's best plays, and one of the best comedies of the Caroline period; in one critic's view, Brome's The...
is staged on the final day, and so is the last play performed during the era of English Renaissance theatreEnglish Renaissance theatreEnglish Renaissance theatre, also known as early modern English theatre, refers to the theatre of England, largely based in London, which occurred between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642...
.
New books
- Sir Thomas BrowneThomas BrowneSir Thomas Browne was an English author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including medicine, religion, science and the esoteric....
- Religio MediciReligio MediciReligio Medici is a book by Sir Thomas Browne, which sets out his spiritual testament as well as being an early psychological self-portrait. In its day, the book was a European best-seller and brought its author fame and respect throughout the continent... - Thomas FullerThomas FullerThomas Fuller was an English churchman and historian. He is now remembered for his writings, particularly his Worthies of England, published after his death...
- The Holy State and the Profane State - Sir Walter RaleighWalter RaleighSir Walter Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England....
- The Prince, or Maxims of State
New drama
- François le Métel de BoisrobertFrançois le Métel de BoisrobertFrançois le Métel de Boisrobert was a French poet.-Biography:He was born at Caen, and trained as a lawyer, practising for some time at the bar at Rouen. About 1622 he went to Paris, and by the next year had established a footing at court, for he had a share in the ballet of the Bacchanales...
- La Belle Palène - Pierre CorneillePierre CorneillePierre Corneille was a French tragedian who was one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine...
- Polyeucte - Francis Jaques - The Queen of Corsica
- 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...
- Saul - 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 SistersThe Sisters (play)The Sisters is a Caroline stage play, a comedy written by James Shirley. It was the last of Shirley's plays performed in London prior to the closing of the theatres in September 1642, at the start of the English Civil War... - Jan VosJan Vos (poet)Jan Jansz. Vos was a Dutch playwright and poet. A glassmaker by trade , he also played an important role as stage-manager and director of the theatre...
- Klucht van Oene
New poetry
- Sir John DenhamJohn Denham (poet)Sir John Denham was an English poet and courtier. He served as Surveyor of the King's Works and is buried in Westminster Abbey....
- Cooper's HillCooper's HillThere are several places called Cooper's Hill:* Cooper's Hill, Bedfordshire, a Site of Special Scientific Interest* at Brockworth, where the Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake takes place* near Englefield Green, Surrey... - Richard LovelaceRichard LovelaceRichard Lovelace was an English poet in the seventeenth century. He was a cavalier poet who fought on behalf of the king during the Civil war. His best known works are To Althea, from Prison, and To Lucasta, Going to the Warres....
- "To Althea, from Prison"
Births
- April 21 - Simon de La LoubèreSimon de la LoubèreSimon de la Loubère was a French diplomat, writer, mathematician and poet.-Mission to Siam:Simon de la Loubère led an embassy to Siam in 1687 . The embassy, composed of five warships, arrived in Bangkok in October 1687 and was received by Ok-khun Chamnan...
, diplomat, writer, mathematician and poet (died 1729) - December 30 - Vincenzo da Filicaja, poet (died 1707)
- probable
- Thomas ShadwellThomas ShadwellThomas Shadwell was an English poet and playwright who was appointed poet laureate in 1689.-Life:Shadwell was born at Stanton Hall, Norfolk, and educated at Bury St Edmunds School, and at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, which he entered in 1656. He left the university without a degree, and...
, dramatist (died 1692) - Edward TaylorEdward TaylorEdward Taylor was a colonial American poet, pastor and physician.-Early life:...
, poet and author (died 1729)
- Thomas Shadwell
Deaths
- May or June - 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...
, poet (born 1609) - date unknown
- Abdul-Haqq DehlaviAbdul-Haqq DehlaviSheikh Abdul Haq Muhaddith Dehlawi or Al Muhaddith Shaykh Abdul Haqq Dehlavi was an Islamic scholar.-Biography:He was born in 1551 in Delhi, hence the suffix Dehlavi to his name...
, Islamic scholar and writer (born 1551) - Sir Francis KynastonFrancis KynastonSir Francis Kynaston or Kinaston was an English courtier and poet, noted for his translation of Geoffrey Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde into Latin verse ; he also made a Latin translation of Henryson's The Testament of Cresseid.-Life:He was born at Oteley, near Ellesmere, Shropshire, eldest son...
, poet (born 1587) - James MabbeJames MabbeJames Mabbe or Mab was an English scholar and poet, and a Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford. He was involved in translations from Spanish, in particular of some of the work of Cervantes...
, poet (born 1572)
- Abdul-Haqq Dehlavi