1590 in literature
This article presents lists of the literary events and publications in 1590.
Events
- January – The Children of Paul's perform at the English Court twice in the first week; one of the plays act may be John Lyly's Midas. Later this year they are banned from performing over of the involvement of Lily, their chief script-writer, in the Marprelate controversy.
- unknown date – The Teatro all'antica at Sabbioneta, designed by Vincenzo Scamozzi, is completed.
New books
- Robert Greene
- *Greene's Mourning Garment
- *Never Too Late
- Thomas Lodge – Rosalynde
- Thomas Nashe – ''An Almond for a Parrat''
New drama
- Anonymous
- *Fair Em, the Miller's Daughter of Manchester
- *King Leir
- *Mucedorus
- Robert Greene
- *The Comical History of Alphonsus, King of Aragon
- *The History of Orlando Furioso
- *The Scottish History of James the Fourth
- *with Thomas Lodge – A Looking Glass for London
- Christopher Marlowe – Tamburlaine
- George Peele – Famous Chronicle of King Edward the First
- Robert Wilson – ''The Three Lords and Three Ladies of London''
Poetry
- Sir Philip Sidney – Arcadia
- Edmund Spenser – The Faerie Queene, Books 1–3
Births
- January 30 – Lady Anne Clifford, English literary patron
- March 18 – Manuel de Faria e Sousa, Portuguese historian and poet
- June 24 – Samuel Ampzing, Dutch poet
- July 26 – Johannes Crellius, German-born Polish theologian
- September 12 – María de Zayas, Spanish poet and dramatist
- October 11 – William Pynchon, English-born New England theologian
- unknown dates
- *Alonso Andrada, Spanish biographer
- *François Annat, French anti-Jansenist theologian
- *Thomas Carve, Irish historian writing in Latin
- *Faqi Tayran, Kurdish poet
- *Grigore Ureche, Moldavian chronicler
- *Théophile de Viau, French poet and dramatist
Deaths
- January 7 – Jakob Andreae, German theologian
- February 1 – Lawrence Humphrey, English theologian
- March – Petru Cercel, Wallachian prince and poet
- July – Guillaume de Salluste Du Bartas, French poet
- September 20 – Robert Garnier, French poet
- November 23 – André Thévet, French cosmographer
- November 29 – Philipp Nicodemus Frischlin, German poet and dramatist
- December 5 – Johann Habermann, German theologian
- probable
- *Lambert Daneau, French theologian
- *Giuseppe Leggiadri Gallani, Italian poet and dramatist