1697 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1697.
Events
- May 7 – The 13th century royal Tre Kronor castle in Stockholm burns to the ground and a large portion of the royal library is destroyed.
- The actors of the Comédie-Italienne in Paris announce a performance of La fausse prude, a play that ridicules King Louis XIV of France's wife, Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, which causes the King to disband the company.
- George Farquhar arrives in London from Dublin.
- Thomas Corneille publishes his translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses into French.
- Daniel Defoe's An Essay Upon Projects suggests insurance, an income tax and the education of women, among other public measures.
- First publication of the 13th century Heimskringla in Old Norse, with Swedish and Latin translations by Johan Peringskiöld in Stockholm
New books
Prose
- Mary Astell – A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, Part II
- Pierre Bayle – Dictionnaire historique et critique
- Richard Blackmore – King Arthur
- Thomas Burnet – Remarks upon An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding
- William Congreve – The Birth of the Muse
- William Dampier – A New Voyage Round the World
- Daniel Defoe – An Essay Upon Projects
- John Dryden
- *Alexander's Feast; or, The Power of Musique
- *The Works of Virgil
- John Evelyn – Numismata: A discourse of medals
- Jane Lead – A Fountain of Gardens
- John Locke
- *A Letter to the Right Reverend Edward Ld Bishop of Worcester
- *Mr Locke's Reply to the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Worcester's Answer to his Letter
- *A Second Vindication of the Reasonableness of Christianity
- Charles Perrault – Histoires ou contes du temps passé
- John Phillips – Augustus Britannicus
- Humphrey Prideaux – The True Nature of Imposture Fully Display'd in the Life of Mahomet
- John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester – Familiar Letters
- William Wotton – ''Reflections upon Ancient and Modern Learning''
Drama
- Anonymous – The Unnatural Mother
- Colley Cibber – Woman's Wit
- William Congreve – The Mourning Bride
- John Dennis – A Plot and No Plot
- Thomas Dilke – The City Lady, or Folly Reclaimed
- Thomas D'Urfey
- *Cinthia and Endimion
- *The Intrigues at Versailles; or, A Jilt in all Humours
- James Drake – The Sham Lawyer
- Charles Gildon – The Roman Brides Revenge
- Charles Hopkins – Boadicea, Queen of Britain
- Peter Anthony Motteux – The Novelty, or Every Act a Play
- Mary Pix
- *The Deceiver Deceiv'd
- *The Innocent Mistress
- George Powell – The Imposture Defeated, or a Trick to Cheat the Devil
- Jacques Pradon – Scipion
- Elkanah Settle – The World in the Moon
- John Vanbrugh
- *Aesop
- *The Provoked Wife
- *''The Relapse''
Births
- April 1 - Abbé Prévost, French writer
- June 16 – Jean-Baptiste de La Curne de Sainte-Palaye, French historian, classicist and lexicographer
- December 27 – Sollom Emlyn, Irish legal writer
Deaths
- February 5 – Hester Biddle, English Quaker writer
- March 1 – Francesco Redi, Tuscan physician, naturalist and poet
- June 7 – John Aubrey, English memoirist
- December 9 – Scipion Abeille, French surgeon and poet
- Unknown date – Juan del Valle y Caviedes, Spanish Peruvian poet
- Probable year of death – Gilbert Clerke, English mathematician, natural philosopher and theologian