1640 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1640.
Events
- January 21 – Salmacida Spolia, a masque written by Sir William Davenant and designed by Inigo Jones, is performed at Whitehall Palace. It is the final royal masque of the Caroline era.
- March 17 – Henry Burnell's play Landgartha is first performed, at the Werburgh Street Theatre in Dublin. It is one of the earliest plays from a native Irish playwright.
- c. April 16 – James Shirley returns to England from Ireland.
- May 4 – Theatre manager William Beeston is sent to the Marshalsea Prison for staging a play which offends the Stuart regime. This constitutes the only repression of the theatre to occur during the reign of King Charles I.
- May 28 – Pedro Calderón de la Barca joins the Catalan campaign led by the Duke of Olivares.
- English Cavalier poet Richard Lovelace, serving in the Bishops' Wars in Scotland, writes "To Lucasta, Going to the Warres" and the unperformed tragedy The Soldier.
New books
- The Bay Psalm Book, the first book printed in North America
- Uriel da Costa – Exemplar Humanae Vitae
- Diego de Saavedra Fajardo – Idea de un príncipe político cristiano
- Thomas Fuller – Joseph's coloured Coat
- James Howell – Dodona's Grove
- Cornelius Jansen – Augustinus
- Thomas Stephens – Arte da lingoa Canarim, a grammar of the Konkani language
- John Wilkins – A Discourse Concerning a New Planet
- Francisco de Rioja – Aristarco o censura de la proclamación católica de los catalanes
- Baltasar Gracián – El político Don Fernando el Católico
- Juan Eusebio Nieremberg – ''De la diferencia entre lo temporal y lo eterno. Crisol de desengaño''
New drama
- Henry Burnell – Landgartha
- Pierre Corneille – Horace
- William Davenant – Salmacida Spolia
- John Fletcher & James Shirley – The Night Walker
- Henry Glapthorne – The Hollander, Wit in a Constable, and The Ladies' Privilege
- John Gough – The Strange Discovery
- William Habington – The Queen of Arragon
- Samuel Harding – Sicily and Naples
- Jean Mairet – L’Illustre corsaire
- Nathaniel Richards – Messalina
- Joseph Rutter- The Cid, Part 2
- George Sandys – Christ's Passion
- Lewis Sharpe – The Noble Stranger published
- James Shirley – The Imposture performed; a single-volume collection of eight plays published; The Arcadia, The Humorous Courtier, and Saint Patrick for Ireland published; The Coronation published but misattributed to John Fletcher
- Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla – Los bandos de Verona
- Pedro Calderón de la Barca – Psiquis y Cupido
- Valentín de Céspedes – Las glorias del mejor siglo
- Lope de Vega – Parte XXIV de comediasEntremeses nuevos
- Fray Alonso Remón – Las tres mujeres en una
- Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla
- *Donde hay agravios no hay celos
- *No hay amigo para amigo
- *''Progne y Filomena''
Poetry
- Thomas Carew – Poems
- Robert Sempill the younger – The Life and Death of Habbie Simpson, Piper of Kilbarchan
- John Tatham – Fancy's Theatre
- ''Romances varios de diversos autores''
Births
- April 2 – Marianna Alcoforado, Portuguese nun and purported letter-writer
- June 5 – Pu Songling, Chinese writer
- August 8 – Amalia Catharina, German poet
- September 6 – Heinrich Brewer, German historian
- December 6 – Claude Fleury, French historian
- December 14 – Aphra Behn, English dramatist
- David-Augustin de Brueys, French theologian and dramatist
- Madame de Villedieu, French dramatist and novelist
Deaths
- January 25 – Robert Burton, English scholar
- February/March – Richard Rowlands, English antiquary
- March 8 – Samuel Ward, English Puritan preacher and writer
- March 17 – Philip Massinger, English dramatist
- March 22 – Thomas Carew, English poet
- April – Uriel da Costa, Portuguese philosopher
- April 2 – Paul Fleming, German poet
- April 28 – William Alabaster, English poet and playwright
- May 30 – André Duchesne, French historian
- October 1 – Claudio Achillini, Italian philosopher and poet
- December
- *William Aspley, English publisher
- *Sir John Melton, English politician and writer
- unknown dates
- *Charles Aleyn, English poet
- *Daniel Naborowski, Polish Baroque poet
- probable – Elizabeth Melville, Scottish poet