1674 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1674 in literature involved some significant events.
Events
- 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...
is elected to the French Academy, along with Pierre Daniel HuetPierre Daniel HuetPierre Daniel Huet was a French churchman and scholar, editor of the Delphin Classics, founder of the Academie du Physique in Caen and Bishop of Soissons from 1685 to 1689 and afterwards of Avranches.-Life:...
. - Thomas KenThomas KenThomas Ken was an English cleric who was considered the most eminent of the English non-juring bishops, and one of the fathers of modern English hymnology.-Early life:...
and Izaak WaltonIzaak WaltonIzaak Walton was an English writer. Best known as the author of The Compleat Angler, he also wrote a number of short biographies which have been collected under the title of Walton's Lives.-Biography:...
visit Rome together. - The new Theatre Royal, Drury LaneTheatre Royal, Drury LaneThe Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
opens in March. Designed by Christopher WrenChristopher WrenSir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
, it replaces the original theatre that burned down in 1672. - The derivative nature of Restoration drama is richly displayed when the Duke's CompanyDuke's CompanyThe Duke's Company was one of the two theatre companies that were chartered by King Charles II at the start of the English Restoration era, when the London theatres re-opened after their eighteen-year closure during the English Civil War and the Interregnum.The Duke's Company had the patronage of...
produces 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...
's "operatic" re-adaptation of 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...
and 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...
's 16671667 in literature-Events:* The Roman Catholic Church places the works of René Descartes on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.* Molière's play, Tartuffe, is banned.* Edmund Castell is imprisoned for debt....
adaptation of The TempestThe TempestThe Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
. In response, their rivals at the King's CompanyKing's CompanyThe King's Company was one of two enterprises granted the rights to mount theatrical productions in London at the start of the English Restoration. It existed from 1660 to 1682.-History:...
stage The Mock Tempest, or the Enchanted CastleThe Mock TempestThe Mock Tempest, or the Enchanted Castle is a Restoration era stage play, a parody by Thomas Duffet; it premiered in 1674, and was first printed in 1675 by the bookseller William Cademan...
by Thomas DuffetThomas DuffetThomas Duffet , or Duffett, was an Irish playwright and songwriter active in England in the 1670s. He is remembered for his popular songs and his burlesques of the serious plays of John Dryden, Thomas Shadwell, Elkanah Settle, and Sir William Davenant.By profession, Duffet was a milliner; he...
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New books
- Samuel ChappuzeauSamuel ChappuzeauSamuel Chappuzeau was a French scholar, author, poet and playwright whose best-known work today is Le Théâtre François, a description of French Theatre in the 17th century....
- Le Théâtre FrançoisLe Théâtre FrançoisThis book, in three volumes, by Samuel Chappuzeau is the main source of information on French Theatre in the 17th Century.Its full title is Le Théâtre françois divisé en trois Livres, où il est traité I. De L’Usage de la Comédie. II. Des Auteurs qui soutiennent le Theatre. III... - John EvelynJohn EvelynJohn Evelyn was an English writer, gardener and diarist.Evelyn's diaries or Memoirs are largely contemporaneous with those of the other noted diarist of the time, Samuel Pepys, and cast considerable light on the art, culture and politics of the time John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February...
- Navigation and Commerce - John JosselynJohn JosselynJohn Josselyn was a seventeenth-century English traveler to New England who wrote with credulity about what he saw and heard during his sojourn there before returning to England. Yet his books give some of the earliest and most complete information on New England flora and fauna in colonial times,...
- An Account of the Voyages to New England, London: Printed for Giles Widdows - Thomas KenThomas KenThomas Ken was an English cleric who was considered the most eminent of the English non-juring bishops, and one of the fathers of modern English hymnology.-Early life:...
- Manual of Prayers for the use of the Scholars of Winchester College - Anthony WoodAnthony WoodAnthony Wood or Anthony à Wood was an English antiquary.-Early life:Anthony Wood was the fourth son of Thomas Wood , BCL of Oxford, where Anthony was born...
- Historia et antiquitates Universitatis Oxoniensis
New drama
- Anonymous (and 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...
?) - The Mistaken HusbandThe Mistaken HusbandThe Mistaken Husband is a Restoration comedy in the canon of John Dryden's dramatic works, where it has constituted a long-standing authorship problem.-Performance and publication:... - William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle - The Triumphant Widow
- Pierre CorneillePierre CorneillePierre Corneille was a French tragedian who was one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine...
- Suréna - John CrowneJohn CrowneJohn Crowne was a British dramatist and a native of Nova Scotia.His father "Colonel" William Crowne, accompanied the earl of Arundel on a diplomatic mission to Vienna in 1637, and wrote an account of his journey...
- Andromache - 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...
- Macbeth, a "dramatic opera" adapted from Shakespeare's play, is published - Thomas DuffetThomas DuffetThomas Duffet , or Duffett, was an Irish playwright and songwriter active in England in the 1670s. He is remembered for his popular songs and his burlesques of the serious plays of John Dryden, Thomas Shadwell, Elkanah Settle, and Sir William Davenant.By profession, Duffet was a milliner; he...
(attributed to) - The Amorous Old Woman- The Empress of Morocco: a Farce
- The Mock TempestThe Mock TempestThe Mock Tempest, or the Enchanted Castle is a Restoration era stage play, a parody by Thomas Duffet; it premiered in 1674, and was first printed in 1675 by the bookseller William Cademan...
- Nathaniel LeeNathaniel LeeNathaniel Lee was an English dramatist.He was the son of Dr Richard Lee, a Presbyterian clergyman who was rector of Hatfield and held many preferments under the Commonwealth...
- The Tragedy of Nero, Emperour of Rome - 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...
- IphigénieIphigénieIphigénie is a dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by the French playwright Jean Racine. It was first performed in the Orangerie in Versailles on August 18th 1674 as part of the fifth of the royal Divertissements de Versailles of Louis XIV to celebrate the conquest of...
Births
- January 15 - Prosper Jolyot de CrébillonProsper Jolyot de CrébillonProsper Jolyot de Crébillon was a French poet and tragedian.-Life and works:He was born in Dijon, where his father, Melchior Jolyot, was notary-royal. Having been educated at the Jesuit school in the town, and afterwards at the Collège Mazarin. He became an advocate, and was placed in the office...
, poet and dramatist (died 1762) - June 20 - Nicholas Rowe (dramatist)Nicholas Rowe (dramatist)Nicholas Rowe , English dramatist, poet and miscellaneous writer, was appointed Poet Laureate in 1715.-Life:...
(died 1718) - October - Thomas RuddimanThomas RuddimanThomas Ruddiman was a Scottish classical scholar.-Life:He was born at Raggal, Banffshire, where his father was a farmer, and educated at the University of Aberdeen. Through the influence of Dr Archibald Pitcairne he became an assistant in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh...
, classical scholar (died 1757) - ?December - Christmas SamuelChristmas SamuelChristmas Samuel was a Welsh Independent minister and writer.He was born in Llanegwad, Carmarthenshire, into a relatively prosperous family. He began to preach at an early age, and by 1707 was in charge of the church at Panteg, though he was as yet unordained. He was ordained on September 23,...
, Independent minister and writer (died 1764)
Deaths
- June 14 - Marin le Roy de GombervilleMarin le Roy de GombervilleMarin le Roy, sieur du Parc et de Gomberville was a French poet and novelist.He was born at Paris, and at fourteen he produced a volume of poetry. At twenty he wrote a Discours sur l'histoire and at twenty-two a pastoral, La Charité, which is really a novel...
, poet and novelist (born 1600) - August 13 - LucidorLucidorLars Johansson , usually referred to under his pseudonym Lucidor, was a Swedish baroque poet. He is remembered for his burlesque poetry that is seen as foreshadowing that of Johan Runius and, especially, Carl Michael Bellman, and for his dramatic death in a tumultuous brawl at the Fimmelstången...
, burlesque poet (born 1638) (killed in a duel) - September 27 - Thomas TraherneThomas TraherneThomas Traherne, MA was an English poet and religious writer. His style is often considered Metaphysical.-Life:...
, poet and religious writer (born c.1636) - October - Robert HerrickRobert Herrick (poet)Robert Herrick was a 17th-century English poet.-Early life:Born in Cheapside, London, he was the seventh child and fourth son of Julia Stone and Nicholas Herrick, a prosperous goldsmith....
, poet (born 1591) - November 8 - 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...
, poet, prose writer, polemicist and civil servant (born 1608) - December 9 - Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of ClarendonEdward Hyde, 1st Earl of ClarendonEdward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was an English historian and statesman, and grandfather of two English monarchs, Mary II and Queen Anne.-Early life:...
(born 1609) - date unknown - Miguel SánchezMiguel SánchezMiguel Sánchez was a Novohispanic priest, writer and theologian. He is most renowned as the author of the 1648 publication Imagen de la Virgen María, a description and theological interpretation of an apparition to Juan Diego of the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Guadalupe which is the first published...
, Novohispano priest, writer and theologian (born 1594)