# 1606 in literature

"none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1606.

## Events

* January? – Sir Thomas Craig becomes church procurator.
* February... – John Day's satirical play The Isle of Gulls causes a scandal which sends several of the young actors from the Children of the Chapel to prison for short periods.
* Spring – Ben Jonson's satirical play Volpone is first performed, by the King's Men at the Globe Theatre in London.
* May 27 – The English Parliament passes An Act to Restrain Abuses of Players, tightening censorship controls on public theatre performances, notably in relation to profane oaths.
* August 7 – Possible first performance of Shakespeare's Macbeth, with Richard Burbage in the title role, amongst a series of plays presented by the King's Men before Kings James I of England and Christian IV of Denmark (his brother-in-law) at Hampton Court Palace in England.
* November 14 – Marc Lescarbot's dramatic poem Théâtre de Neptune is performed at the Habitation at Port-Royal, Nova Scotia, the first theatrical performance in North America.
* December 26 (St. Stephen's Day) – Shakespeare's King Lear is performed at Court before King James I of England. The title role is played by Richard Burbage and the Fool by Robert Armin.

## New books
### Prose

* Thomas Dekker
** The Double PP
** News From Hell
* Salvator Fabris – Lo Schermo, overo Scienza D'Arme
* Philemon Holland – The Historie of Twelve Caesars, a translation of Suetonius's De vita Caesarum

### Drama

* Anonymous (published)
** The Returne from Pernassus, or The Scourge of Simony
** Wily Beguiled
* Anonymous (probably Thomas Middleton) – The Revenger's Tragedy
* George Chapman
** Sir Giles Goosecap (attributed; published)
** The Gentleman Usher (published)
** Monsieur D'Olive (published)
* John Day – The Isle of Gulls
* Lope de Vega
** El anzuelo de Fenisa (Fenisa's Hook)
** La discreta enamorada [es]
** El gran duque de Moscovia
* Ben Jonson
** Volpone
** Hymenaei
* John Marston
** The Wonder of Women, or the Tragedy of Sophonisba
** Parasitaster, or The Fawn (published)
* Thomas Middleton (attributed) – The Puritan, or, The Widow of Watling-Street (probable date)
* William Shakespeare
** Macbeth (possible first performance)
** King Lear (first recorded performance)
* Edward Sharpham – The Fleir

### Poetry

* Hieronim Morsztyn – Światowa Rozkosz (Worldly Pleasure)
* Jean Passerat (posthumous) – Recueil des œuvres poétiques

## Births

* February 28 – William Davenant, English poet and dramatist (died 1668)
* March 3 – Edmund Waller, English poet (died 1687)
* May 12 – Joachim von Sandrart, German art historian (died 1688)
* June 6 – Pierre Corneille, French dramatist (died 1684)
* Unknown dates
** Pierre du Ryer, French dramatist (died 1658)
** Junije Palmotić, Ragusan dramatist and poet (died 1657)

## Deaths

* May 13 (burial) – Arthur Golding, English translator (born c. 1536)
* May 17 – Niccolò Orlandini, Italian Jesuit writer (born 1554)
* May 30 – Guru Arjan, Sikh Guru and compiler of scriptures (in custody, born 1563)
* September 28 – Nicolaus Taurellus, German philosopher and theologian (born 1547)
* October 5 – Philippe Desportes, French poet (born 1546)
* November 13 – Girolamo Mercuriale, Italian philologist and medical writer (born 1530)
* November 20 (burial) – John Lyly, English dramatist, poet and novelist (born c. 1553)
* November 22 – Sir Henry Billingsley, English translator (birth year unknown)
* Unknown date – Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer – Dutch cartographer (born 1533/1534)