1599 in literature

This article lists notable literary events and publications in 1599. Events January – English poet Edmund Spenser is buried near Geoffrey Chaucer at Westminster Abbey, beginning the tradition of Poets' Corner. Spring/Summer – The Globe Theatre is built in Southwark, at this time beyond the jurisdiction of the London city authorities, utilising material from The Theatre. June 4 – The Bishops' Ban of 1599: Middleton's Microcynicon: Six Snarling Satires and Marston's Scourge of Villainy are publicly burned as the English ecclesiastical authorities crack down on the craze for satire in the past year. Richard Bancroft, Bishop of London and John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury tighten their enforcement of existing censorship. Earlier, minor works like pamphlets and plays were being published only with the approval of the Wardens of the Stationers Company and without ecclesiastical review; this arrangement is terminated. June 7 – John Day kills fellow playwright Henry Porter, allegedly in self-defence. September 21 – The first recorded performance of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar takes place at the Globe Theatre in London, according to the Swiss traveller Thomas Platter the Younger. Late – War of the Theatres: Satire, being prohibited in print, breaks out in the London theatres. In Histriomastix, Marston satirizes Jonson's pride through the character Chrisoganus; Jonson responds by satirizing Marstons's wordy style in Every Man out of His Humour, acted by the Lord Chamberlain's Men. The English comic actor Will Kempe leaves the Lord Chamberlain's Men earlier in the year, probably to be replaced by the end of it by Robert Armin. King James VI of Scotland arranges for a company of English players to erect a playhouse and perform in his country. The first printing in England of Richard de Bury's The Philobiblon (1345) is made by Oxford bibliophile Thomas James. New books Prose George Abbot – A Brief Description of the Whole World Mateo Alemán – Guzmán de Alfarache John Bodenham – Wits' Theater Roger Fenton – An Answer to William Alabaster, His Motives Ferrante Imperato – Dell'Historia Naturale Thomas Morley – The First Book of Consort Lessons John Rainolds – Th'Overthrow of Stage Plays