•
August 24 –
Samuel Pepys sees the new production of
Hamlet by Sir
William Davenant's troupe of actors, the
Duke's Company, with the innovation of stage scenery. The Duke's Company have recently moved from the
Salisbury Court Theatre to the theatre at
Lincoln's Inn Fields, where they have been joined by
Thomas Betterton; Pepys praises Betterton's
Prince Hamlet as "beyond imagination." •
December 28 – Controversial author
James Harrington is arrested on a charge of conspiracy, while working on his final publication,
A System of Politics. •
Unknown dates • The
Book of Kells (c. 800) is presented to
Trinity College Dublin. • Bishop
John Gauden claims authorship of
Eikon Basilike (
1649). • Third edition of
Izaak Walton's
The Compleat Angler. • The trend toward
closet drama (often highly politicized), which distinguished the
English Civil War and
Interregnum periods, does not immediately end once the theatres re-open with the
Restoration — as the publication of ''Hell's High Court of Justice'' (below) illustrates. •
Abraham Cowley's pamphlet
The Advancement of Experimental Philosophy helps inspire the foundation of the
Royal Society. • The library of
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, is opened to the public at
Cölln as the "Library of the Elector" (), foundation of the
Berlin State Library. • A
legal deposit obligation is laid on publishers in
Sweden. •
Francis Kirkman, in
Westminster (London) operates an early form of
lending library, based on a collection of his own works. ==New books==