1685 in literature

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This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1685.

Events

• January 22 – Antoine Furetière is expelled from the Académie française for proposing to publish a complete dictionary of the French language himself. ^[1]
• February – The death of King Charles II of England brings a major theatrical flop in the Restoration era: Albion and Albanius – an allegorical drama in praise of the king with a text by John Dryden and music by Louis Grabu – is in rehearsal at the time. ^[2]
• June – A revised version of Albion and Albanius fails largely because it coincides with the invasion of the Duke of Monmouth. ^[3]
• June – Parliament revives the Licensing of the Press Act 1662, limiting London printers. ^[4]
• unknown date – The Fourth Folio of Shakespeare's works is published in London.

New books

Prose

• Scipion Abeille – Histoire des Os ("Description of the Bones")
• Aphra Behn – Love-Letters Between a Nobleman and His Sister
• Ihara Saikaku – Five Women Who Loved Love
• John Spencer – De Legibus Hebraeorum, Ritualibus et earum Rationibus libri tres

Drama

• Jean Galbert de Campistron – Andronic
• John Crowne – Sir Courtly Nice
• Thomas d'Urfey
  • The Banditti, or A Lady's Distress ^[5]
  • A Commonwealth of Women (adapted from The Sea Voyage )
• Nahum Tate
  • The Cuckold's Haven (adaptation of Eastward Ho )
  • A Duke and No Duke (adaptation of Sir Aston Cockayne's Trappolin Suppos'd a Prince)

Births

• January 9 – Tiberius Hemsterhuis, Dutch critic (died 1766)
• March 12 – George Berkeley Irish philosopher and bishop (died 1753)
• June 30 – John Gay, English poet and dramatist (died 1732) ^[6]

Deaths

• March 18 – Francis Harold, Irish Franciscan historian (year of birth not known)
• c. April 14 – Thomas Otway, English dramatist (born 1652)
• April 29 – Luc d'Achery, French author of critical editions of medieval manuscripts (born 1609)
• June 16 – Anne Killigrew, English poet and painter (born 1660)
• June 17 – Andrew Allam, English historian (born 1655)
• July 1 – Nalan Xingde, Chinese ci poet (born 1655)
• September 25 – Jean Cabassut, French theologian (born 1604) ^[7]
• October 23 – Yamaga Sokō (山鹿 素行), Japanese philosopher (born 1622)
• unknown date – Placido Puccinelli, Italian historian (born 1609) ^[8]

References

1. Helen Julia McKinney (1936). Antoine Furetière, Novelist. University of California, Berkeley. p. 43.
2. Libretto. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
3. Grove. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
4. Licensing acts. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
5. "Thomas D'Urfey". English Poetry 1579-1830: Spenser and the Tradition. Archived from the original on 2014-05-31. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
6. "John Gay – British Library". www.bl.uk. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
7. John McClintock (1874). Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. Harper. p. 6.
8. Bibliotheca Britannica; Or a General Index to British and Foreign Literature. By Robert Watt, M.D. in Two Parts: - Authors and Subjects. 1824. p. 776.