1626 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1626.

Events

• February – The King's Men premiere Ben Jonson's satire on the new newsgathering enterprise The Staple of News, his first new play in almost a decade, at the Blackfriars Theatre in London.^[1]
• November – The deaths of Lancelot Andrewes and Nicholas Felton, Bishop of Ely, prompt John Milton, then a student at Cambridge, to write elegies in Latin for both.^[2]
• December 27 – Izaak Walton marries Rachel Floud (died 1640).^[3]

New books

Prose

• Francis Bacon – The New Atlantis
• Nicholas Breton – Fantastickes
• Alonso de Castillo Solórzano – Jornadas alegres
• Robert Fludd – Philosophia Sacra^[4]
• Marie de Gournay – Les Femmes et Grief des Dames (The Ladies' Grievance)^[5]
• Francisco de Quevedo – El Buscón (first published edition – unauthorized)

Drama

• Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft – Baeto, oft oorsprong der Holanderen
• John Fletcher and collaborators – The Fair Maid of the Inn
• William Heminges – The Jews' Tragedy
• Jean Mairet – La Sylvie
• Philip Massinger – A New Way to Pay Old Debts
• Thomas May – Cleopatra
• Thomas Middleton – The Triumphs of Health and Prosperity^[6]
• Tirso de Molina – La Huerta de San Juan
• James Shirley – The Maid's Revenge; The Brothers

Births

• January – Robert Howard, English dramatist and politician (died 1698)
• February 5 – Madame de Sévigné, French letter writer (died 1696)^[7]
• March 12 – John Aubrey, English antiquary and writer (died 1697)^[8]
• July 25 – Gerard Brandt, Dutch dramatist and historian (died 1685)^[9]
• September 8 – Simon Patrick, English theologian and bishop (died 1707)^[10]
• October 6 – Géraud de Cordemoy, French historian, philosopher and lawyer (died 1684)^[11]
• Unknown dates
  • Elizabeth Egerton, Countess of Bridgewater, English poet and dramatist (died 1663)^[12]
  • Alonso de Olmedo y Ormeño, Spanish actor and dramatist (died 1682)

Deaths

• February – William Rowley, English dramatist (born c. 1585)^[13]
• February 28 – Cyril Tourneur, English dramatist (born 1575)^[14]
• September 25
  • Lancelot Andrewes, English scholar and bishop (born 1555)^[15]
  • Théophile de Viau, French poet and dramatist (born 1590)
• October 19 (estimated) – Béroalde de Verville, French poet and novelist (born 1556)^[16]
• December 8 – Sir John Davies, English poet (born 1569)
• unknown date – Samuel Purchas, English miscellanist and travel writer (born c. 1577)^[17]
• probable – Nicholas Breton, English poet and novelist (born c. 1545)^[18]