1695 in literature

This article presents lists of the literary events and publications in 1695.

Events

• April – The Parliament of England decides not to renew the Licensing Order of 1643 thus effectively abolishing most press censorship.^[1]
• After twelve years of de facto theatrical monopoly in London, the senior actors of the mismanaged United Company break away to form a rival cooperative company led by Thomas Betterton, Elizabeth Barry and Anne Bracegirdle. The new company gets off to a brilliant start with the première on April 30 of William Congreve's comedy Love for Love opening the New Theatre, Lincoln's Inn Fields.^[2]
• Antoine Le Maistre and his brother Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy complete their translation of the Catholic Bible into the French language (the Bible de Port-Royal).
• Wren Library, Cambridge, the library of Trinity College, designed by Christopher Wren, is completed.

New books

Prose

• Mary Astell (anonymous) – A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, for the Advancement of Their True and Greatest Interest
• Charles Blount – Miscellaneous Works (ed. Charles Gildon)
• Gilbert Burnet – An Essay on the Memory of the Late Queen (see 1694 in literature, as many memorials were written to Mary II of England)
• Jeremy Collier – Miscellanies upon Moral Subjects: The second part
• John Dennis – The Court of Death
• John Dryden – De Arte Graphica (trans. of Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy)
• Laurence Echard – The Roman History (vol. I)
• "N. H." – The Ladies Dictionary, being a general entertainment of the fair-sex: a work never attempted before in English (published by John Dunton)
• Nikolaas Heinsius the Younger – The Delightful Adventures and Wonderful Life of Mirandor (Den vermakelijken Avanturier)
• William Laud – The History of the Troubles and Tryal of William Laud
• John Locke
  • Further Considerations Concerning Raising the Value of Money
  • The Reasonableness of Christianity as Delivered in the Scriptures
  • A Vindication of the Reasonableness of Christianity (reply to John Edwards)
• John Norris – Letters Concerning the Love of God (letters to Mary Astell)
• Sir William Petty – Quantulumcunque Concerning Money (published posthumously)
• John Phillips – A Reflection on Our Modern Poetry
• Robert South – Tritheism (vs. William Sherlock)
• Sir William Temple – An Introduction to the History of England
• Ned Ward – Female Policy Detected; or, The Arts of a Designing Woman Laid Open
• Sujan Rai – Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh

Children

• Charles Perrault – Histoires ou contes du temps passé. Les Contes de ma Mère l’Oye (Tales and stories of the past with morals. Tales of Mother Goose)

Drama

• John Banks – Cyrus the Great, or The Tragedy of Love
• Catherine Trotter Cockburn – Agnes de Castro
• William Congreve – Love for Love
• Robert Gould – The Rival Sisters
• George Granville – The She-Gallants
• Charles Hopkins – Pyrrhus King of Epirus
• Peter Anthony Motteux – The Loves of Mars and Venus
• George Powell – Bonduca, or the British Heroine
• Edward Ravenscroft – The Canterbury Guests; or, A Bargain Broken
• Elkanah Settle – Philaster; or, Love Lies A-Bleeding (adapted from Fletcher's Philaster)
• Thomas Scott – The Mock Marriage
• Thomas Southerne – Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave: a tragedy (adapted from Aphra Behn's novel Oroonoko)
• "A Young Lady" – She Ventures and He Wins

Poetry

• Joseph Addison – A Poem to His Majesty
• Richard Blackmore – Prince Arthur
• Colley Cibber – A Poem on the Death of our Late Sovereign Lady, Queen Mary
• William Congreve – The Mourning Muse of Alexas: A pastoral (on Mary II)
• John Milton – The Poetical Works of Mr John Milton (ed. Patrick Hume)
• Matthew Prior – An English Ballad: In answer to Mr Despreaux's Pindarique ode on the taking of Namure
• Richard Steele – The Procession: A poem on Her Majesties funeral
• See also 1695 in poetry

Births

• April 8 – Johann Christian Günther, German poet (died 1723)
• Unknown date – Hedvig Catharina Lillie, Swedish salonnière (died 1745)

Deaths

• February 7 – Dorothy Osborne (Lady Temple), English letter writer (born 1627)
• April 13 – Jean de la Fontaine, French poet and fabulist (born 1621)
• April 17 – Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican poet (born 1651; plague)
• April 23 – Henry Vaughan, Welsh metaphysical poet (born 1622)
• June 11 – André Félibien, French court historian (born 1619)
• August 12 – Huang Zongxi, Chinese political theorist (born 1610)
• October – Sir William Killigrew, English playwright and courtier (born 1606)
• November 28 – Anthony Wood, English antiquary (born 1632)

References