1606 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1606.
Events
- January? – Sir Thomas Craig becomes church procurator.
- February... – John Day's satirical play The Isle of Gulls causes a scandal which sends several of the young actors from the Children of the Chapel to prison for short periods.
- Spring – Ben Jonson's satirical play Volpone is first performed, by the King's Men at the Globe Theatre in London.
- May 27 – The English Parliament passes An Act to Restrain Abuses of Players, tightening censorship controls on public theatre performances, notably in relation to profane oaths.
- August 7 – Possible first performance of Shakespeare's Macbeth, with Richard Burbage in the title role, amongst a series of plays presented by the King's Men before Kings James I of England and Christian IV of Denmark at Hampton Court Palace in England.
- November 14 – Marc Lescarbot's dramatic poem Théâtre de Neptune is performed at the Habitation at Port-Royal, Nova Scotia, the first theatrical performance in North America.
- December 26 – Shakespeare's King Lear is performed at Court before King James I of England. The title role is played by Richard Burbage and the Fool by Robert Armin.
New books
Prose
- Thomas Dekker
- *The Double PP
- *News From Hell
- Salvator Fabris – Lo Schermo, overo Scienza D'Arme
- Philemon Holland – The Historie of Twelve Caesars, a translation of Suetonius's De vita Caesarum
- Johannes Kepler – ''De Stella Nova''
Drama
- Anonymous
- *The Returne from Pernassus, or The Scourge of Simony
- *Wily Beguiled
- Anonymous – The Revenger's Tragedy
- George Chapman
- *Sir Giles Goosecap
- *The Gentleman Usher
- *Monsieur D'Olive
- John Day – The Isle of Gulls
- Lope de Vega
- *El anzuelo de Fenisa
- *
- *El gran duque de Moscovia
- Ben Jonson
- *Volpone
- *Hymenaei
- John Marston
- *The Wonder of Women, or the Tragedy of Sophonisba
- *Parasitaster, or The Fawn
- Thomas Middleton – The Puritan, or, The Widow of Watling-Street
- William Shakespeare
- *Macbeth
- *King Lear
- Edward Sharpham – ''The Fleir''
Poetry
- Hieronim Morsztyn – Światowa Rozkosz
- Jean Passerat – ''Recueil des œuvres poétiques''
Births
- February 28 – William Davenant, English poet and dramatist
- March 3 – Edmund Waller, English poet
- May 12 – Joachim von Sandrart, German art historian
- June 6 – Pierre Corneille, French dramatist
- Unknown dates
- *Pierre du Ryer, French dramatist
- *Junije Palmotić, Ragusan dramatist and poet
Deaths
- May 13 ' – Arthur Golding, English translator
- May 17 – Niccolò Orlandini, Italian Jesuit writer
- May 30 – Guru Arjan, Sikh Guru and compiler of scriptures
- September 28 – Nicolaus Taurellus, German philosopher and theologian
- October 5 – Philippe Desportes, French poet
- November 13 – Girolamo Mercuriale, Italian philologist and medical writer
- November 20 ' – John Lyly, English dramatist, poet and novelist
- November 22 – Sir Henry Billingsley, English translator
- Approximate dates
- *Henry Chettle, English dramatist
- *Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer – Dutch cartographer