1625 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1625 in literature involved some significant events.
Events
- January 1 - 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...
act Henry IV, Part 1Henry IV, Part 1Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. It is the second play in Shakespeare's tetralogy dealing with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV , and Henry V...
at Whitehall Palace. - October - Following the closure of the London theatres for most of the year, due to an outbreak of bubonic plagueBubonic plaguePlague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
, .the epidemic abates with the cooler weather, and a new company is formed under royal patronage: Queen Henrietta's MenQueen Henrietta's MenQueen Henrietta's Men was an important playing company or troupe of actors in Caroline era London. At their peak of popularity, Queen Henrietta's Men were the second leading troupe of the day, after only the King's Men.-Beginnings:...
. - 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...
enters Christ's College, CambridgeChrist's College, CambridgeChrist's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...
. - Sir Richard BakerRichard Baker (chronicler)Sir Richard Baker was the English author of the Chronicle of the Kings of England and other works.-Life:He was probably born at Sissinghurst in Kent, the grandson of Sir John Baker, the first Chancellor of the Exchequer. He entered Hart Hall, Oxford, as a commoner in 1584...
's Oxfordshire property is seized as a result of his debts. - Cyril TourneurCyril TourneurCyril Tourneur was an English dramatist who enjoyed his greatest success during the reign of King James I of England. His best-known work is The Revenger's Tragedy , a play which has alternatively been attributed to Thomas Middleton.-Life:Cyril Tourneur was possibly the son of Captain Richard...
becomes secretary to the council of war and joins the catastrophic Cadiz expedition under Sir Edward Cecil.
New books
- Francis Bacon - Complete Essays
- Hugo GrotiusHugo GrotiusHugo Grotius , also known as Huig de Groot, Hugo Grocio or Hugo de Groot, was a jurist in the Dutch Republic. With Francisco de Vitoria and Alberico Gentili he laid the foundations for international law, based on natural law...
- De jure belli ac pacisDe jure belli ac pacisDe jure belli ac pacis is a 1625 book in Latin, written by Hugo Grotius and published in Paris, on the legal status of war. It is now regarded as a foundational work in international law.... - Musaeum HermeticumMusaeum HermeticumMusaeum Hermeticum is a compendium of alchemical texts first published in German, in Frankfurt, 1625 by Lukas Jennis. Additional material was added for the 1678 Latin edition, which in turn was reprinted in 1749....
- Ludovico Zuccolo - La Repubblica d' Evandria
New drama
- John FletcherJohn Fletcher (playwright)John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...
and 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 Elder BrotherThe Elder BrotherThe Elder Brother is an early seventeenth-century stage play, a comedy written by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger. Apparently dating from 1625, it may have been the last play Fletcher worked on before his August 1625 death.-Date:... - Alexandre HardyAlexandre HardyAlexandre Hardy was a French dramatist, one of the most prolific of all time. He claimed to have written some six hundred plays, but only thirty-four are extant....
- Mariamne (published) - 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...
- The Staple of NewsThe Staple of NewsThe Staple of News is an early Caroline era play, a satire by Ben Jonson. The play was first performed in late 1625 by the King's Men at the Blackfriars Theatre, and first published in 1631.-Publication:...
- The Fortunate Isles and Their UnionThe Fortunate Isles and Their UnionThe Fortunate Isles and Their Union is a Jacobean era masque, written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones, and performed on January 9, 1625...
- The Staple of News
- Racan - Les bergeries
- 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...
- Love Tricks, or the School of ComplementLove TricksLove Tricks, or The School of Complement is a Caroline stage play by James Shirley, his earliest known work.-Performance:Love Tricks was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on February 10, 1625; it was performed by the Lady Elizabeth's Men at the Cockpit Theatre...
Births
- May 25 - John DaviesJohn Davies (translator)-Life:Davies was born in Kidwelly in Carmarthenshire, Wales and was educated in Carmarthen before entering Jesus College, Oxford in 1641. He moved to St John's College, Cambridge in 1646, during the English Civil War, and met the poet John Hall, later writing a preface to Hall's book of essays...
, translator (died 1693) - August 20 - Thomas CorneilleThomas CorneilleThomas Corneille was a French dramatist.- Personal life :Born in Rouen nearly twenty years after his brother Pierre, the "great Corneille", Thomas's skill as a poet seems to have shown itself early. At the age of fifteen he composed a play in Latin which was performed by his fellow-pupils at the...
, dramatist (died 1709) - date unknown - François BernierFrançois BernierFrançois Bernier was a French physician and traveller. He was born at Joué-Etiau in Anjou. He was the personal physician of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb for around 12 years during his stay in India....
, travel writer (died 1688)
Deaths
- January 29 - Jacob GretserJacob GretserJacob Gretser was a celebrated German Jesuit writer.-Life:Gretser was born at Markdorf in the Diocese of Constance. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1578, and nine years later he defended publicly theses covering the whole field of theology...
, Jesuit writer (born 1562) - March 25 - Giambattista Marino, epic poet (born 1569)
- June 1 - Honoré d'UrféHonoré d'UrféHonoré d'Urfé, marquis de Valromey, comte de Châteauneuf was a French novelist and miscellaneous writer.- Life :...
, novelist (born 1568) - August - John FletcherJohn Fletcher (playwright)John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...
, dramatist (born 1579) - September - Thomas LodgeThomas LodgeThomas Lodge was an English dramatist and writer of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods.-Early life and education:...
, dramatist (born c.1558) - September 6 - Thomas DempsterThomas DempsterThomas Dempster was a Scottish scholar and historian. Born into the aristocracy in Aberdeenshire, which comprises regions of both the Scottish highlands and the Scottish lowlands, he was sent abroad as a youth for his education. The Dempsters were Catholic in an increasingly Protestant country and...
, historian (born 1579) - September 20 - Heinrich MeibomHeinrich Meibom (poet)Heinrich Meibom , German historian and poet, was born at Barntrup in Westphalia.He held the chair of history and poetry at Helmstedt from 1583 until his death...
, poet and historian (born 1555) - date unknown - Thomas LodgeThomas LodgeThomas Lodge was an English dramatist and writer of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods.-Early life and education:...
, dramatist (born c1558)