1648 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1648. Events February Ordinances are passed in England against plays; actors are to be fined and theatres pulled down. Richard Flecknoe sails from Lisbon to Brazil. April 7 – Edward Pococke becomes Professor of Hebrew at the University of Oxford, in succession to Dr Morris. April 16 – René Descartes meets Frans Burman, resulting in the Conversation with Burman. June 9 – Richard Lovelace, an English Cavalier poet, begins his second imprisonment for opposition to Parliament. June – Pierre Gassendi, having given up lecturing at the Collège Royal because of ill-health, returns to his home area of Digne. July 14 – During the siege of Colchester, a cannon nicknamed Humpty Dumpty, is blown off the walls, possibly inspiring the nursery rhyme. December – King Charles I is imprisoned in Windsor Castle, where he reportedly spends much of his time reading the plays of Shakespeare and Ben Jonson. unknown dates Robert Boyle writes Seraphic Love, his first important work. Although it will not be published until 1660, he produces presentation copies for friends. Richard Crashaw, exiled in Paris, publishes two hymns in Latin. King Frederick III of Denmark establishes the Royal Library, Denmark. New books Prose Gauthier de Costes, seigneur de la Calprenède – Cléopâtre Robert Filmer – Freeholders Grand Inquest touching our Sovereign Lord the King and his Parliament Thomas Gage – The English-American, or a New Survey of the West Indies Baltasar Gracián – Agudeza y arte de ingenio Francisco Martínez de Mata – Memorial a razón de la despoblación y pobreza de España y su remedio José García de Salcedo Coronel – Comentarios al Panegírico del Duque de Lerma de Luis de Góngora Fray Marcos de Salmerón – El príncipe escondido Madeleine de Scudéry – Artamène, ou le Grand Cyrus, volume 1 John Wilkins – Mathematical Magick Gerrard Winstanley – The Mystery of God