1697 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1697.

Events

• May 7 – The 13th century royal Tre Kronor ("Three Crowns") castle in Stockholm burns to the ground and a large portion of the royal library is destroyed.
• The actors of the Comédie-Italienne in Paris announce a performance of La fausse prude (The False Hypocrite), a play that ridicules King Louis XIV's wife, Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon, which causes the King to disband the company.
• George Farquhar arrives in London from Dublin.
• Thomas Corneille publishes his translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses into French.
• Daniel Defoe's An Essay Upon Projects suggests insurance, an income tax and the education of women, among other public measures.
• First publication of the 13th century Heimskringla in Old Norse, with Swedish and Latin translations by Johan Peringskiöld in Stockholm

New books

Prose

• Mary Astell – A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, Part II
• Pierre Bayle – ' (Historical and Critical Dictionary, first part, publication continued until 1702)
• Richard Blackmore – King Arthur
• Thomas Burnet – Remarks upon An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding (on John Locke)
• William Congreve – The Birth of the Muse
• William Dampier – A New Voyage Round the World
• Daniel Defoe – An Essay Upon Projects
• John Dryden
• Alexander's Feast; or, The Power of Musique (ode)
• The Works of Virgil
• John Evelyn – Numismata: A discourse of medals
• Jane Lead – A Fountain of Gardens
• John Locke
• A Letter to the Right Reverend Edward Ld Bishop of Worcester
• Mr Locke's Reply to the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Worcester's Answer to his Letter
• A Second Vindication of the Reasonableness of Christianity
• Charles Perrault (as Pierre Perrault Darmancourt) – ' (Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals: Tales of Mother Goose)
• John Phillips – '
• Humphrey Prideaux – The True Nature of Imposture Fully Display'd in the Life of Mahomet
• John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester – Familiar Letters
• William Wotton – Reflections upon Ancient and Modern Learning (setting off the English "quarrel of the Ancients and Moderns")