1637 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1637. Events January – Pierre Corneille's tragicomedy Le Cid first performed at the Théâtre du Marais in Paris. Based on Guillén de Castro's play Las mocedades del Cid (1618), it is first published later in the year and sparks the debate of the Querelle du Cid at the Académie française over its failure to observe all the classical unities of drama and supposed lack of moral purpose, but proves popular with audiences. January 24 – Hamlet is performed before King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria at Hampton Court Palace. July 10 – Thomas Browne is registered as a physician, following which he settles in Norwich. August 30 – The King's Men mount a production for the English Court of William Cartwright's The Royal Slave at Christ Church, Oxford. The company is paid an extra £30 "for their pains in studying and acting" the drama. October 2 – The London theatres re-open, having been closed almost continuously since May 1636 because of a severe outbreak of bubonic plague. December 11 – John Lilburne is arrested following his return from the Netherlands to England for printing and circulating Puritan books (particularly William Prynne's News from Ipswich) not licensed by the Stationers' Company. unknown date – Willem Blaeu sets up Europe's largest printing house in Amsterdam, specializing in cartography. New books María de Zayas – Novelas amorosas y ejemplares René Descartes – Discours de la méthode pour bien conduire sa raison, et chercher la vérité dans les sciences Thomas Heywood – Pleasant Dialogues and Dramas Alonso de Castillo Solórzano – Aventuras del bachiller Trapaza Baltasar Gracián – El héroe María de Zayas y Sotomayor – Novelas amorosas y ejemplares.