1657 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1657.

Events

• January – Madame de la Fayette returns to Paris, where she is introduced to, and becomes friends with, Madame de Sévigné.^[1]
• March 2 – The Great Fire of Meireki in Edo, Japan, burns down the city's theatres, forcing actors to move to Osaka.^[2]

New books

Prose

• "William Allen" – Killing No Murder (variously attributed to Colonel Silius Titus, Edward Sexby or William Allen, an English Republican; Sexby admits authorship under duress)^[3]
• Cave Beck – The Universal Character
• Theodore Haak (translator) – The Dutch Annotations Upon the Whole Bible (original 1637)^[4]
• Li Yu (probable author) – The Carnal Prayer Mat (published 1693)
• Richard Ligon – A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbadoes
• Jeremy Taylor – Discourse of the Nature, Offices and Measures of Friendship
• Brian Walton, Bishop of Chester – Polyglot Bible
• Baltasar Gracián – El criticón (third part)
• François Hédelin, abbé d'Aubignac – Pratique du théâtre
• Cyrano de Bergerac (posthumous) – L'Autre Monde: ou les États et Empires de la Lune (Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon)
• Christiaan Huygens – De ratiociniis in ludo aleae
• Nihon Ōdai Ichiran (日本王代一覧, Table of the Rulers of Japan)
• Paul Scarron – Roman comique (Comic romance, publication concluded)

Children

Les Jeux et plaisirs de l'enfance^[5]

Drama

• Anonymous – Lust's Dominion (published, falsely attributed in some impressions to Marlowe; probably by Dekker and others, written c.1600)
• Richard Brome – The Queen's Exchange (published)
• Sir Aston Cockayne – The Obstinate Lady (published)
• Lodowick Carlell
  • The Fool Would be a Favorite, or The Discreet Lover (published)
  • The Tragedy of Osmond the Great Turk, or the Noble Servant (published)
• George Gerbier d'Ouvilly – The False Favourite Disgraced, and the Reward of Loyalty (published)
• Franciscus van den Enden – Philedonius
• Andreas Gryphius – Katharina von Georgien
• Thomas Jordan – Fancy's Festivals (masque) (published)
• Thomas Middleton (died 1627)
  • No Wit, No Help Like a Woman's (published)
  • Two New Plays; first publication of Women Beware Women and More Dissemblers Besides Women

Poetry

• William Davenant – Poems on Several Occasions
• Angelus Silesius – Heilige Seelenlust (collection of hymns)

Births

• February 11 – Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle French author (died 1757)
• March 24 – Arai Hakuseki, Japanese scholar-bureaucrat and writer (died 1725)
• November 26 – William Derham, English natural philosopher and cleric (died 1735)
• unknown date – Matthew Tindal, English deist writer (died 1733)

Deaths

• March 7 – Hayashi Razan (林羅山), Japanese philosopher (born 1583)
• April ? – Richard Lovelace, English Cavalier poet (born 1617)^[6]
• August 29 – John Lilburne, English writer and agitator (born c. 1614)^[7]
• November 18 – Luke Wadding, Irish historian (born 1588)
• November 19 – Théodore Tronchin, Swiss theologian (born 1582)
• unknown dates
  • Junije Palmotić, Ragusan (Dubrovnik) dramatist and poet (born c. 1606)
  • Thomas Tuke, English controversialist and cleric (born c. 1580)
• probable – Thomas Bayly, English religious controversialist (born early 17th century)^[8]