1669 in literature

This article presents lists of the literary events and publications in 1669.

Events

• May 31 - Samuel Pepys makes the last entry in his diary.
• The final section of Parthenissa, the prose romance by Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery, is published. Earlier portions of the work had appeared in 1651 and 1654–56.

New books

• Anonymous (Gabriel-Joseph de la Vergne?) – Letters of a Portuguese Nun (Les Lettres portugaises)
• Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen – Simplicius Simplicissimus (first major novel in the German language, dated this year but probably published in 1668)
• Blaise Pascal – Pensees (published posthumously)
• Jan Swammerdam – Dutch: Algemeene Verhandeling van de bloedeloose dierkens
• John Wagstaffe – The Question of Witchcraft Debated

New drama

• Anonymous – The Imperial Tragedy
• John Dryden – Tyrannic Love
• Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery
  • Guzman
  • Mr. Anthony
• John Lacy – The Dumb Lady
• Jean Racine – Britannicus

Births

• December 16 – Joseph-Anne-Marie de Moyriac de Mailla, French missionary and translator in China (died 1748)
• Unknown dates
  • Nicholas Blundell, English diarist (died 1737)
  • Lady Lucy Herbert, English devotional writer (died 1744)
  • Jiang Tingxi (蒋廷锡), Chinese encyclopedist (died 1732)

Deaths

• February 3 – Catharina Questiers, Dutch poet and dramatist (born 1631)
• March 19 – John Denham, Irish poet (born 1615)
• September 30 – Henry King, English poet and bishop (born 1592)
• October 8 – Jane Cavendish, English poet and playwright (born 1621)
• December 16 – Nathaniel Fiennes, English pamphleteer, soldier and politician (born c. 1608)
• December 24 – Henry Foulis, English theologian and controversialist (born 1638)

References