This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1693.

Events

February 27 Events Pre-1600 * 380 – Edict of Thessalonica: Emperor Theodosius I and his co-emperors Gratian and Valentinian II declare their wish that all Roman citizens convert to Nicene Christianity. * 425 – The University of Constantin ...

–

March 17 Events Pre-1600 * 45 BC – In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda. * 180 – Commodus becomes sole emperor of the Roman Empire at the age of ...

–

John Dunton John Dunton (4 May 1659 – 1733) was an English bookseller and writer. In 1691 he founded The Athenian Society to publish '' The Athenian Mercury'', the first major popular periodical and first miscellaneous periodical in England. In 1693, for ...

publishes ''

The Ladies' Mercury ''The Ladies' Mercury'' (27 February 1693 — 17 March 1693) was a periodical published in London by the Athenian Society notable for being the first periodical in English published and specifically designed for women readers. History In 1690 ...

'' in London, the first periodical specifically for women. *March –

William Congreve William Congreve (24 January 1670 – 19 January 1729) was an English playwright, satirist, poet, and Whig politician. He spent most of his career between London and Dublin, and was noted for his highly polished style of writing, being regard ...

's first play, the comedy ''

The Old Bachelor "The Old Bachelor" at Covent Garden in 1756 featuring Mrs Elmy... ''The Old Bachelor'' is the first play written by United Kingdom">British playwright William Congreve, produced in 1693 in literature, 1693. Incidental music for the play was wri ...

'', is performed at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) an ...

in London. *May – William Bradford prints the first book in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, George Keith's ''New-England's Spirit of Persecution Transmitted to Pennsylvania''. *

July 29 Events Pre-1600 *587 BC – The Neo-Babylonian Empire sacks Jerusalem and destroys the First Temple. * 615 – Pakal ascends the throne of Palenque at the age of 12. * 904 – Sack of Thessalonica: Saracen raiders under Leo o ...

– Anthony Wood is condemned in the vice-chancellor's court of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

for libels against

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (18 February 16099 December 1674) was an English statesman, lawyer, diplomat and historian who served as chief advisor to Charles I during the First English Civil War, and Lord Chancellor to Charles II fro ...

. He is fined and banished from the university until he recants. The offending pages are burned. *October – Congreve's comedy ''

The Double Dealer ''The Double Dealer'' is a comic play written by English playwright William Congreve, first produced in 1693. Incidental music for the play was written by Henry Purcell. Characters and plot This comedy sees character Mellefont, nephew and pr ...

'' is first performed at Drury Lane. *''unknown dates'' **

Joseph Addison Joseph Addison (1 May 1672 – 17 May 1719) was an English essayist, poet, playwright, and politician. He was the eldest son of Lancelot Addison. His name is usually remembered alongside that of his long-standing friend Richard Steele, with w ...

addresses an early poem to

John Dryden John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration (En ...

. **Swedish scholar Petter Salan publishes in Upsala ''Fortissimorum pugilum Egilli et Asmundi historiam antqvo gothico sermone exaratam'', the first printed edition of the 14th century ''

Egils saga einhenda ok Ásmundar berserkjabana , or ''The Story of Egil One-Hand and Asmund Berserkers-Slayer'', is a legendary saga set in Russia (''Rússía''), a country located between Garðaríki and Húnaland, the land of the Huns. There are also adventures in Hálógaland and Jötunheim ...

''. **Venetian sea-captain

Julije Balović Julije Balović or Giulio Ballovich (; 24 March 1672 – 10 September 1727) was an entrepreneur, polyglot, judge, sea captain Venetian military officer, and collector of epic poetry from Venetian held Perast (modern-day Montenegro). Some sourc ...

compiles ''Pratichae Schrivaneschae'', including a five-language multilingual glossary. **London printer William Anderton is

hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

for

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

Tyburn Tyburn was a Manorialism, manor (estate) in London, Middlesex, England, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. Tyburn took its name from the Tyburn Brook, a tributary of the River Westbourne. The name Tyburn, from Teo Bourne ...

for producing two anonymous Jacobite pamphlets.

New books

Fiction

*''The Genuine Remains of Dr. Thomas Barlow'' (posthumous) * Li Yu (李漁, probable author) – ''

The Carnal Prayer Mat ''Rouputuan'', also known as ''Huiquanbao'' and ''Juehouchan'', and translated as ''The Carnal Prayer Mat'' or ''The Before Midnight Scholar'', is a 17th-century Chinese erotic novel published under a pseudonym but usually attributed to Li Yu. ...

'' (written 1657) *'' The Third Part of the Pilgrim's Progress'' (anonymous) *

Catherine Trotter Catharine Trotter Cockburn (16 August 1679–11 May 1749) was an English novelist, dramatist and philosopher who wrote on various subjects, including moral philosophy and theology, and maintained a prolific correspondence. Trotter's writings en ...

(or Catherine Trotter Cockburn) – ''Olinda's Adventures; or, The Amours of a Young Lady'' *Sir

Thomas Urquhart Sir Thomas Urquhart (1611–1660) was a Scottish aristocrat, writer, and translator. He is best known for his translation of the works of French Renaissance writer François Rabelais to English. Biography Urquhart was born to Thomas Urquhar ...

and

Peter Anthony Motteux Peter Anthony Motteux (born Pierre Antoine Motteux ; 25 February 1663 – 18 February 1718) was a French-born English author, playwright, and translator. Motteux was a significant figure in the evolution of English journalism in his era, as the ...

– first complete English translation of Rabelais' ''

Gargantua and Pantagruel ''The Five Books of the Lives and Deeds of Gargantua and Pantagruel'' (), often shortened to ''Gargantua and Pantagruel'' or the (''Five Books''), is a pentalogy of novels written in the 16th century by François Rabelais. It tells the advent ...

'' *''

Vertue Rewarded ''Vertue Rewarded; or, The Irish Princess'' is a 1693 novel. Published in London, it is one of the earliest examples of Irish prose fiction in the English language. Two original copies survive; one in the Bodleian Library and one in the Briti ...

Drama

* John Bancroft – ''Henry the Second, King of England; With the death of Rosamond'' *

**''

'' **''

'' * Thomas D'Urfey – '' The Richmond Heiress, or A Woman Once in the Right'' * Henry Higden – ''The Wary Widow, or Sir Noisy Parrot'' * George Powell – '' A Very Good Wife'' (adapted from

Richard Brome Richard Brome ; (c. 1590? – 24 September 1652) was an English dramatist of the Caroline era. Life Virtually nothing is known about Brome's private life. Repeated allusions in contemporary works, like Ben Jonson's '' Bartholomew Fair'', in ...

's ''

The City Wit ''The City Wit, or the Woman Wears the Breeches'' is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Richard Brome that is sometimes classed among his best works. It was first published when it was included in the ''Five New Plays'' of 1653, the ...

'' and '' The Court Beggar'') *

Elkanah Settle Elkanah Settle (1 February 1648 – 12 February 1724) was an English poet and playwright. Biography He was born at Dunstable, and entered Trinity College, Oxford, in 1666, but left without taking a degree. His first tragedy, '' Cambyses, King ...

– ''The New Athenian Comedy'' (published) *

Thomas Southerne Thomas Southerne (12 February 166026 May 1746) was an Irish dramatist. Biography Thomas Southerne, born on 12 February 1660, in Oxmantown, near Dublin, was an Irish dramatist. He was the son of Francis Southerne (a Dublin brewer) and Margare ...

– '' The Maid's Last Prayer, or Any Rather Than Fail'' *Thomas Wright – ''

The Female Virtuosos ''The Female Virtuosos'' is a 1693 comedy play by the English writer Thomas Wright. It is based on the 1672 play ''Les Femmes Savantes'' by the French writer Molière about two young sisters who try and get out of a marriage arrangement with a f ...

Poetry

– ''Examen Poeticum: Being the Third Part of Miscellany Poems'' (anthology)

Non-fiction

* John Dennis – ''The Impartial Critick'' *

– ''A Discourse Concerning the Origin and Progress of Satire'' *

John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diary, diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's Diary, ...

– ''The Compleat Gard'ner'' *

August Hermann Francke August Hermann Francke (; 22 March 1663 – 8 June 1727) was a German Lutheran clergyman, theologian, philanthropist, and Biblical scholar. His evangelistic fervour and pietism got him expelled as lecturer from the universities of Dresden and ...

– ''Manuductio ad lectionem Scripturae Sacrae'' *

Robert Gould Robert or Bob Gould may refer to: Sportspeople * Bob Gould (rugby union) (1863–1931), Welsh rugby union player *Bobby Gould (born 1946), English footballer and manager * Bobby Gould (ice hockey) (born 1957), Canadian ice hockey player * Robbie ...

– ''The Corruption of the Times by Money'' *

John Locke John Locke (; 29 August 1632 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.) – 28 October 1704 (Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.)) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of the Enlightenment thi ...

– ''

Some Thoughts Concerning Education ''Some Thoughts Concerning Education'' is a 1693 treatise on the education of gentlemen written by the English philosopher John Locke. For over a century, it was the most important philosophical work on education in England. It was translat ...

'' *

Cotton Mather Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728) was a Puritan clergyman and author in colonial New England, who wrote extensively on theological, historical, and scientific subjects. After being educated at Harvard College, he join ...

– ''

Wonders of the Invisible World ''The Wonders of the Invisible World'' was a book written by Cotton Mather and published in 1693. It was subtitled, ''Observations As well Historical as Theological, upon the Nature, the Number, and the Operations of the Devils''. The book defend ...

'' *

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

–
An Essay towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe by the Establishment of a European Dyet, Parliament or Estates
' *

Thomas Rymer Thomas Rymer (c. 1643 – 14 December 1713) was an English poet, literary critic, antiquary and historiographer. His lasting contribution was to compile and publish under royal warrant the 17 volumes (the last two posthumously) of the fir ...

– ''A Short View of Tragedy'' * Gabrielle Suchon – ''Traité de la morale et de la politique (On Morality and Politics)'' *

Samuel Wesley Samuel Wesley may refer to: * Samuel Wesley (poet, died 1735) (1662–1735), English poet and churchman * Samuel Wesley (poet, died 1739) (1691–1739), English poet and churchman, son of the above * Samuel Wesley (composer, born 1766) (1766–1837 ...

– ''The Life of Our Blessed Lord''

Births

March 5 Events Pre-1600 * 363 – Roman emperor Julian leaves Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sasanian Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death. * 1046 – Nasir Khusraw begins the seven-year Middle Easte ...

–

Johann Jakob Wettstein Johann Jakob Wettstein (also Wetstein; 5 March 1693 – 23 March 1754) was a Swiss theologian, best known as a New Testament critic. Biography Youth and study Johann Jakob Wettstein was born in Basel. Among his tutors in theology was Samuel We ...

, Swiss theologian (died

1754 Events January–March * January 28 – Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word ''serendipity''. * February 22 – Expecting an attack by Portuguese-speaking militias in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plat ...

) *

May 10 Events Pre-1600 * 28 BC – A sunspot is observed by Han dynasty astronomers during the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, one of the earliest dated sunspot observations in China. * 1291 – Scottish nobles recognize the authority of ...

– John Fox, English biographer (died 1763) *

June 17 Events Pre-1600 * 653 – Pope Martin I is arrested and taken to Constantinople, due to his opposition to monothelitism. *1242 – Following the Disputation of Paris, twenty-four carriage loads of Jewish religious manuscripts were burn ...

–

Johann Georg Walch Johann Georg Walch (17 June 1693 – 13 January 1775) was a German Lutheran theologian. Life He was born in Meiningen, where his father, Georg Walch, was general superintendent. He studied at Leipzig and Jena, amongst his teachers being J. F. ...

, German theologian (died

1775 Events Summary The American Revolutionary War began this year, with the first military engagement on April 19 Battles of Lexington and Concord on the day after Paul Revere's ride. The Second Continental Congress took various steps tow ...

) *''Unknown dates'' **Fray Casimiro Diaz, O.S.A., Spanish Augustinian friar and historian (died

1746 Events January–March * January 8 – The Young Pretender Charles Edward Stuart occupies Stirling, Scotland. * January 17 – Battle of Falkirk Muir: British Government forces are defeated by Jacobite forces. * February ...

) ** Arthur Young, English religious writer and cleric (

1759 In Great Britain, this year was known as the ''Annus Mirabilis'', because of British victories in the Seven Years' War. Events January–March * January 6 – George Washington marries Martha Dandridge Custis. * January 11 & ...

) *''probable'' –

Eliza Haywood Eliza Haywood (c. 1693 – 25 February 1756), born Elizabeth Fowler, was an English writer, actress and publisher. An increase in interest and recognition of Haywood's literary works began in the 1980s. Described as "prolific even by the standar ...

, English dramatist, journalist and novelist (died

1756 Events January–March * January 16 – The Anglo-Prussian alliance (1756)#Treaty, Treaty of Westminster is signed between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Prussia, guaranteeing the neutrality of the Electorate of Hanover, c ...

)

Deaths

February 7 Events Pre-1600 * 457 – Leo I becomes the Eastern Roman emperor. * 987 – Bardas Phokas the Younger and Bardas Skleros, Byzantine generals of the military elite, begin a wide-scale rebellion against Emperor Basil II. * 1301 & ...

–

Paul Pellisson Paul Pellisson (30 October 1624 – 7 February 1693) was a French author, associated with the Baroque '' Précieuses'' movement. Pellisson was born in Béziers, of a distinguished Calvinist family. He studied law at Toulouse, and practised at ...

, French lawyer and author (born

1624 Events January–March * January 14 – After 90 years of Ottoman occupation, Baghdad is recaptured by the Safavid Empire. * January 22 – Korean General Yi Gwal leads an uprising of 12,000 soldiers against King Injo i ...

) *

April 9 Events Pre-1600 * 193 – The distinguished soldier Septimius Severus is proclaimed emperor by the army in Illyricum. * 475 – Byzantine Emperor Basiliscus issues a circular letter (''Enkyklikon'') to the bishops of his empire, ...

–

Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy Roger de Rabutin, comte de Bussy (13 April 1618 – 9 April 1693), commonly known as Bussy-Rabutin, was a French memoirist. He was the cousin and frequent correspondent of Madame de Sévigné. Early life Born at Epiry, near Autun, he repres ...

, French memoirist (born

1618 Events January–March * January 6 ** Jahangir, ruler of the Mughal Empire in northern India, gives an audience for the first time to a representative of the British East India Company, receiving Sir Thomas Roe at the capital at ...

) *

May 25 Events Pre-1600 * 567 BC – Servius Tullius, the king of Rome, celebrates a triumph for his victory over the Etruscans. * 240 BC – First recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet. * 1085 – Alfonso VI of Castile takes ...

–

Madame de La Fayette Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, Comtesse de La Fayette (baptized 18 March 1634 – 25 May 1693), better known as Madame de La Fayette, was a French writer; she authored ''La Princesse de Clèves'', France's first historical novel and one ...

, French writer (born

1634 Events January–March * January 12 – After suspecting that he will be dismissed, Albrecht von Wallenstein, supreme commander of the Holy Roman Empire's Army, demands that his colonels sign a declaration of personal loyalty ...

) *

May 27 Events Pre-1600 * 1096 – Count Emicho enters Mainz, where his followers massacre Jewish citizens. At least 600 Jews are killed. * 1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as Prince two weeks before his untimely death. * 1153 &nda ...

– John Spencer, English scholar and cleric (born

1630 Events January–March * January 2 – A shoemaker in Turin is found to have the first case of bubonic plague there as the plague of 1630 begins spreading through Italy. * January 5 – A team of Portuguese military advisers ...

) *August (end) – Charles Blount, English

deist Deism ( or ; derived from the Latin term '' deus'', meaning "god") is the philosophical position and rationalistic theology that generally rejects revelation as a source of divine knowledge and asserts that empirical reason and observation ...

author (suicide, born

1654 Events January–March * January 6 – In India, Jaswant Singh of Marwar (in the modern-day state of Rajasthan) is elevated to the title of Maharaja by Emperor Shah Jahan. * January 11 – Arauco War – Battle of Río B ...

) *

September 9 Events Pre-1600 *337 – Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans succeed their father Constantine I as co-emperors. The Roman Empire is divided between the three Augusti. * 1000 – Battle of Svolder, Viking Age. * 1141 &ndas ...

–

Ihara Saikaku was a Japanese poet and creator of the " floating world" genre of Japanese prose (''ukiyo-zōshi''). His born name may have been Hirayama Tōgo (平山藤五), the son of a wealthy merchant in Osaka, and he first studied haikai poetry under a ...

(井原西鶴), Japanese poet and author of " floating-world" fiction (born

1642 Events January–March * January 4 – King Charles I of England, accompanied by soldiers, arrives at a session of the Long Parliament and attempts to arrest his chief opponents, the Five Members, John Hampden, Arthur Haselri ...

)

References

{{Year in literature article categories