1680 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1680.
Events
- February – Thomas Otway's blank verse tragedy The Orphan, or The Unhappy Marriage is premiered in London.
- The spring/summer production of Nathaniel Lee's Theodosius at Dorset Garden features Henry Purcell's earliest theatre music.
- August 8 – The Comédie-Française is founded by decree of King Louis XIV of France to merge the two Parisian acting troupes of the time, those of the Guénégaud Theatre and the Hôtel de Bourgogne.
- unknown dates
- *The poem-book Leabhar Cloinne Aodha Buidhe is transcribed by Ruairí Ó hUiginn of Sligo at the command of Cormac Ó Neill.
- *Innerpeffray Library, the oldest known public library in Scotland, is established.
New books
Prose
- John Bunyan – The Life and Death of Mr. Badman
- Gilbert Burnet – Some Passages of the Life and Death of...John Earl of Rochester
- Sor Juana Inéz de la Cruz – Neptuno alegórico
- Pedro Cubero – Peregrinación del mundo
- Pu Songling – Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio
- Sir Robert Filmer – Patriarcha published
Drama
- Aphra Behn – The Revenge
- Pedro Calderón de la Barca – Hado y Divisa de Leonido y Marfisa
- John Crowne – The Misery of Civil War, adapted from Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 2 and Part 3
- Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle – Aspar
- Nathaniel Lee
- * Lucius Junius Brutus
- * The Princess of Cleve
- * Theodosius
- Lewis Maidwell – The Loving Enemies
- Thomas Otway
- *The History and Fall of Caius Marius published
- *The Orphan
- *The Soldier's Fortune
- Jacques Pradon – Statira
- Elkanah Settle
- * Fatal Love
- * The Female Prelate
- Nahum Tate – The Loyal General
- William Whitaker – ''The Conspiracy''
Births
- January 23 – Joseph Ames, English author
- September 22 – Barthold Heinrich Brockes, German poet
- Unknown dates
- *Nicola Coleti, Italian historian and priest
- *Lady Elizabeth Germain, English philanthropist and correspondent
- Probable year of birth
- *Ephraim Chambers, English encyclopedist
- *Cathal Buí Mac Giolla Ghunna, Irish poet in Gaelic
- *Nezim Frakulla, Albanian poet
Deaths
- January 20 – Ann, Lady Fanshawe, English memoirist
- March 14 – René Le Bossu, French critic
- March 17 – François de La Rochefoucauld, French dramatist and writer of maxims
- March 27 – William Maurice, Welsh antiquary
- June 18 – Samuel Butler, English satirical poet
- July 3 – John Martyn, English publisher and bookseller
- July 26 – John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, English poet
- November – Carr Scrope, English poet
- December 4 – Thomas Bartholin, Danish scientist and theologian
- unknown date – François de Grenaille, French dramatist and translator