1695 in literature

Events

• April – The Parliament of England decides not to renew the Licensing Order of 1643, thus effectively abolishing most press censorship.
• unknown dates
• *After twelve years of de facto theatrical monopoly in London, the senior actors of the mismanaged United Company break away to form a rival cooperative company led by Thomas Betterton, Elizabeth Barry and Anne Bracegirdle. This makes a brilliant start with the première on April 30 of William Congreve's comedy Love for Love, at the New Theatre, Lincoln's Inn Fields.
• *Antoine Le Maistre and his brother Louis-Isaac Lemaistre de Sacy complete their translation of the Catholic Bible into French.
• *Wren Library, Cambridge, the library of Trinity College, designed by Christopher Wren, is completed.

  New books

Prose

• Mary Astell – A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, for the Advancement of Their True and Greatest Interest
• Charles Blount – Miscellaneous Works
• Gilbert Burnet – An Essay on the Memory of the Late Queen
• Jeremy Collier – Miscellanies upon Moral Subjects: The second part
• John Dennis – The Court of Death
• John Dryden – De Arte Graphica
• Laurence Echard – The Roman History
• "N. H." – The Ladies Dictionary, being a general entertainment of the fair-sex: a work never attempted before in English
• Nicolaas Heinsius the Younger – The Delightful Adventures and Wonderful Life of Mirandor
• William Laud – The History of the Troubles and Tryal of William Laud
• John Locke
• *Further Considerations Concerning Raising the Value of Money
• *The Reasonableness of Christianity as Delivered in the Scriptures
• *A Vindication of the Reasonableness of Christianity
• John Norris – Letters Concerning the Love of God
• Sir William Petty – Quantulumcunque Concerning Money
• John Phillips – A Reflection on Our Modern Poetry
• Sujan Rai – Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh
• Robert South – Tritheism
• Sir William Temple – An Introduction to the History of England
• Lionel Wafer – A New Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of America
• Ned Ward – Female Policy Detected; or, The Arts of a Designing Woman Laid Open
• Wu Chucai and Wu Diaohou – Guwen Guanzhi, anthology of more than 200 works from Warring States period to Ming dynasty

  Children

• Charles Perrault – Histoires ou contes du temps passé. Les Contes de ma Mère l’Oye

  Drama

• John Banks – Cyrus the Great, or The Tragedy of Love
• Catherine Trotter Cockburn – Agnes de Castro
• William Congreve – Love for Love
• Robert Gould – The Rival Sisters
• George Granville – The She-Gallants
• Charles Hopkins – Pyrrhus King of Epirus
• Peter Anthony Motteux – The Loves of Mars and Venus
• George Powell – Bonduca, or the British Heroine
• Edward Ravenscroft – The Canterbury Guests; or, A Bargain Broken
• Elkanah Settle – Philaster; or, Love Lies A-Bleeding
• Thomas Scott – The Mock Marriage
• Thomas Southerne – Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave: a tragedy
• Ariadne – She Ventures and He Wins

  Poetry

• Joseph Addison – A Poem to His Majesty
• Richard Blackmore – Prince Arthur
• Colley Cibber – A Poem on the Death of our Late Sovereign Lady, Queen Mary
• William Congreve – The Mourning Muse of Alexas: A pastoral
• John Milton – The Poetical Works of Mr John Milton
• Matthew Prior – An English Ballad: In answer to Mr Despreaux's Pindarique ode on the taking of Namure
• Richard Steele – The Procession: A poem on Her Majesties funeral
• See also 1695 in poetry

  Births

• April 8 – Johann Christian Günther, German poet
• September 20 – Hedvig Catharina Lillie, Swedish salonnière

  Deaths

• February 7 – Dorothy Osborne, English letter writer
• April 13 – Jean de la Fontaine, French poet and fabulist
• April 17 – Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican poet
• April 23 – Henry Vaughan, Welsh metaphysical poet
• June 11 – André Félibien, French court historian
• August 12 – Huang Zongxi, Chinese political theorist
• October – Sir William Killigrew, English playwright and courtier
• November 28 – Anthony Wood, English antiquary