1551 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1551.
Events
- June 27 – Edict of Châteaubriant prohibits possessing any books listed on the University of Paris's Index, translating the Bible or works of the Church Fathers, importing books from Geneva or other places not under the Catholic Church's control, or printing or selling any religious books written in the last 40 years.
- unknown dates
- *Juan de Betanzos begins to write his "Narrative of the Incas".
- *An edition of the Book of Common Prayer printed by Humphrey Powell, de facto King's Printer in Dublin, becomes the first book printed in Ireland.
- *The first English language translation of Thomas More's Utopia, made by Ralph Robinson, is published in London.
New books
Prose
- Bishop Mikael Agricola – Abckiria
- John Calvin – De Scandalis
- Bartolomé de las Casas – Historia general de las Indias
- Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski – Commentariorum De Republica emendanda libri quinque
- Stoglav, collection of decisions of the Stoglavy Synod that regulated canon law etc. in the Tsardom of Russia, especially everyday life and mores of the clergy.
Drama
- Ludovico Ariosto – I suppositi
- Marin Držić – Dundo Maroje
- Hans Sachs – Das heiss Eisen
- Georg Wickram – ''Tobias''
Poetry
- Lorenzo de Sepúlveda – Romances nueuamente sacados de historias antiguas de la crónica de España
- ''See also 1551 in poetry''
Births
- May 2 – William Camden, historian
- Unknown dates
- *Nikollë Bardhi, Albanian writer
- *Bhai Gurdas, Punjabi Sikh writer and preacher
- *Abdul-Haqq Dehlavi, Islamic scholar
- *Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, historian of the Mughal emperor Akbar
Deaths
- January 17 – Pedro Mexía, Spanish Humanist philosopher and historian
- May 6 – Johannes Baptista Montanus, Italian medical writer
- May 17 – Shin Saimdang, Korean artist, calligraphist and poet
- Unknown date – Ludovico Pasquali, Dalmatian Italian poet