1606 in literature

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 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 – 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
• *The Returne from Pernassus, or The Scourge of Simony
• *Wily Beguiled
• Anonymous – The Revenger's Tragedy
• George Chapman
• *Sir Giles Goosecap
• *The Gentleman Usher
• *Monsieur D'Olive
• John Day – The Isle of Gulls
• Lope de Vega
• *El anzuelo de Fenisa
• *:es:La discreta enamorada|La discreta enamorada
• *El gran duque de Moscovia
• Ben Jonson
• *Volpone
• *Hymenaei
• John Marston
• *The Wonder of Women, or the Tragedy of Sophonisba
• *Parasitaster, or The Fawn
• Thomas Middleton – The Puritan, or, The Widow of Watling-Street
• William Shakespeare
• *Macbeth
• *King Lear
• Edward Sharpham – The Fleir

  Poetry

• Hieronim Morsztyn – Światowa Rozkosz
• Jean Passerat – Recueil des œuvres poétiques

  Births

• February 28 – William Davenant, English poet and dramatist
• March 3 – Edmund Waller, English poet
• May 12 – Joachim von Sandrart, German art historian
• June 6 – Pierre Corneille, French dramatist
• Unknown dates
• *Pierre du Ryer, French dramatist
• *Junije Palmotić, Ragusan dramatist and poet

  Deaths

• May 13 ' – Arthur Golding, English translator
• May 17 – Niccolò Orlandini, Italian Jesuit writer
• May 30 – Guru Arjan, Sikh Guru and compiler of scriptures
• September 28 – Nicolaus Taurellus, German philosopher and theologian
• October 5 – Philippe Desportes, French poet
• November 13 – Girolamo Mercuriale, Italian philologist and medical writer
• November 20 ' – John Lyly, English dramatist, poet and novelist
• November 22 – Sir Henry Billingsley, English translator
• Unknown date – Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer – Dutch cartographer