1700 in literature
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1700.
Events
- February 1 – Richard Bentley becomes Master of Trinity College, Cambridge.
- Early March - William Congreve's comedy The Way of the World is first performed at the New Theatre, Lincoln's Inn Fields in London.
- May 5 – Within days of John Dryden's death on May 1, his last written work, The Secular Masque, is performed as part of Vanbrugh's version of The Pilgrim.
New books
Fiction
- Aphra Behn – Histories, Novels, and Translations
- Tom Brown – Amusements Serious and Comical
- Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras – Mémoires de Monsieur d'Artagnan
- Peter Anthony Motteux, editor – The History of the Renown'd Don-Quixote de la Mancha, translated by several hands, Volume 1
Drama
- Anonymous – Caledonia, or the Pedlar Turned Merchant
- Abel Boyer – Achilles; or, Iphigenia in Aulis: a tragedy
- William Burnaby – The Reformed Wife
- Susannah Centlivre – The Perjur'd Husband; or, The Adventures of Venice: A tragedy
- Colley Cibber – The Tragical History of King Richard III
- William Congreve – The Way of the World, a comedy performed in March
- John Dennis – Iphigenia: A tragedy, performed in December 1699
- George Farquhar – The Constant Couple
- Charles Gildon – Measure for Measure
- Charles Hopkins – Friendship Improv'd; or, The Female Warriour: A tragedy, performed November 7, 1699
- Francis Manning – The Generous Choice
- John Oldmixon – The Grove, or Love's Paradise published
- William Philips – St. Stephen's Green
- Mary Pix – The Beau Defeated
- Nicholas Rowe – The Ambitious Stepmother
- Thomas Southerne – The Fate of Capua: A tragedy, performed about April
- John Vanbrugh – The Pilgrim: A comedy, anonymous; performed in April
Poetry
See 1700 in poetry- Richard Blackmore – A Satyr Against Wit
- Thomas Brown – A Description of Mr. Dryden's Funeral, verse
- Samuel Cobb – Poetae Britannici
- Daniel Defoe – The Pacificator
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz – Fama y obras póstumas del Fénix de México
- William King – The Transactioneer With Some of his Philosophical Fancies
- John Pomfret – Reason
- John Tutchin – The Foreigners, published anonymously )
- Ned Ward – ''The Reformer''
Non-fiction
- Mary Astell – Some Reflections upon Marriage
- James Brome – Travels over England, Scotland, and Wales
- Jeremy Collier – A Second Defence of the Short View of the Profaneness and Immorality of the English Stage &c
- Eugenia – The Female Advocate: Or, a plea for the just liberty of the tender sex, and particularly of married women...
- Francis Moore – Vox Stellarum: An almanac for 1701
- Sir William Temple – Letters Written by Sir W. Temple, and Other Ministers of State, Both at Home and Abroad
- Pavao Ritter Vitezović – Croatia Rediviva
- Ned Ward – A Step to the Bath: With a character of the place, published anonymously
- Anonymous; perhaps Daniel Defoe – ''Castration of Popish Ecclesiastics''
Births
- February 2 – Johann Christoph Gottsched, German philosopher
- May 25 – Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf, German theologian
- September 11 – James Thomson, Scottish poet
- November 25 – Kata Bethlen, Hungarian memoirist and correspondent
Deaths
- January 7 – Raffaello Fabretti, Italian antiquary
- March 14 – Henry Killigrew, English clergyman, poet and playwright
- May 12
- *Joseph Athias, Spanish-born publisher of Hebrew Bible
- *John Dryden, English poet
- July – Thomas Creech, English translator
- August 6 – Johann Beer, Austrian author, court official and composer
- August 8 – Joseph Moxon, English mathematician and lexicographer
- August 22 – Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora, Mexican priest, poet, geographer, and historian
- Unknown date – Charles Hopkins, Anglo-Irish poet and dramatist