1666 in literature
Encyclopedia
The year 1666 in literature involved some significant events.
Events
- 2 September - Samuel PepysSamuel PepysSamuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
begins recording details of the Great Fire of LondonGreat Fire of LondonThe Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
in his diary. - Aphra BehnAphra BehnAphra Behn was a prolific dramatist of the English Restoration and was one of the first English professional female writers. Her writing contributed to the amatory fiction genre of British literature.-Early life:...
goes to Antwerp to work as a government spy.
New books
- Nicolas Boileau-DespréauxNicolas Boileau-DespréauxNicolas Boileau-Despréaux was a French poet and critic.-Biography:Boileau was born in the rue de Jérusalem, in Paris, France. He was brought up to the law, but devoted to letters, associating himself with La Fontaine, Racine, and Molière...
- Satires du Sieur D.... - John BunyanJohn BunyanJohn Bunyan was an English Christian writer and preacher, famous for writing The Pilgrim's Progress. Though he was a Reformed Baptist, in the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August, and on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church on 29 August.-Life:In 1628,...
- Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners - Thomas HobbesThomas HobbesThomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
- De principiis et ratiocinatione geometrarum - Gottfried LeibnizGottfried LeibnizGottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German philosopher and mathematician. He wrote in different languages, primarily in Latin , French and German ....
- De Arte Combinatoria ('On the Art of Combination')
Births
- March 21 - Ogyū SoraiOgyu Sorai, pen name Butsu Sorai, was a Japanese Confucian philosopher. He has been described as the most influential such scholar during the Tokugawa period. His primary area of study was in applying the teachings of Confucianism to government and social order...
, Japanese Confucian philosopher (died 1728) - July 10 - John Ernest GrabeJohn Ernest GrabeJohn Ernest Grabe , Anglican divine, was born at Königsberg, where his father, Martin Sylvester Grabe, was professor of theology and history....
, German-born theologian (died 1711) - August 13
- René MassuetRené MassuetRené Massuet was a French Benedictine patrologist, of the Congregation of St. Maur.He was born at St. Ouen de Mancelles in the diocese of Évreux, and made his solemn profession in religion in 1682 at Notre Dame de Lire, and studied at Bonnenouvelle in Orléans, where he showed more than ordinary...
, French patrologist (died 1716) - William WottonWilliam WottonWilliam Wotton was an English scholar, chiefly remembered for his remarkable abilities in learning languages and for his involvement in the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns. In Wales he is remembered as the collector and first translator of the ancient Welsh laws.-Early years:William Wotton...
, British scholar (died 1727)
- René Massuet
- date unknown
- Mary AstellMary AstellMary Astell was an English feminist writer and rhetorician. Her advocacy of equal educational opportunities for women has earned her the title "the first English feminist."-Life and career:...
, the "first British feminist" (died 1731) - Josiah BurchettJosiah BurchettJosiah Burchett was Secretary of the Admiralty in England, a position he held for almost fifty years . He was first a clerk to Samuel Pepys, the English civil servant famous for his diary...
, clerk to Samuel PepysSamuel PepysSamuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
(died 1746) - Mary PixMary PixMary Pix was an English novelist and playwright. Church records indicate that she lived in London, marrying George Pix, a merchant tailor from Hawkhurst, Kent in 1684. Baptismal records reveal that she had two sons, George and William...
, English novelist and dramatist (died 1709)
- Mary Astell
- probable - John HarrisJohn Harris (writer)John Harris was an English writer, scientist, and Anglican priest. He is best known as the editor of the Lexicon Technicum: Or, A Universal English Dictionary of Arts and Sciences , the earliest of English encyclopaedias, and as the compiler of the Collection of Voyages and Travels which was...
, encyclopaedist (died 1719)
Deaths
- June 30 - Alexander BromeAlexander BromeAlexander Brome was an English poet.He was by profession an attorney, and was the author of many drinking songs and of satirical verses in favor of the Royalists and in opposition to the Rump Parliament...
, poet (born 1620) - August 24 - Dom Francisco Manuel de MelloDom Francisco Manuel de MelloDom Francisco Manuel de Mello , was a Portuguese writer.-Youth:De Mello, a connection on his father's side of the royal house of Braganza, was a native of Lisbon. He studied the Humanities at the Jesuit College of St...
, Portuguese writer (born 1608) - October 29 - 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...
(born 1596) - November - Jeremias de DekkerJeremias de DekkerJeremias de Dekker or Decker was a Dutch poet.Dekker was born in Dordrecht. His father was a native of Antwerp, who, having embraced the reformed religion, had been compelled to take refuge in the Netherlands...
, Dutch poet (born c. 1610) - date unknown
- Gysbert JapiksGysbert JapiksGysbert Japicx was a Frisian writer, poet, schoolteacher and cantor.He admired Horace and Ovid and was a defender for the memmetaal which elevated Frisian to a literature language...
, Frisian writer (born 1603) - Song YingxingSong YingxingSong Yingxing , born in Yichun of Jiangxi, was a Chinese scientist and encyclopedist who lived during the late Ming Dynasty . He was the author of an encyclopedia that covered a wide variety of technical subjects, including the use of gunpowder weapons...
, Chinese encyclopaedist (born 1587)
- Gysbert Japiks