1674 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1674.

Events

 * March 26 – The new Theatre Royal, Drury Lane opens in March. Designed by Christopher Wren, it replaces the original theatre that burned down in 1672.
 * unknown dates
 * The poet Isaac de Benserade is elected to the French Academy, along with the churchman and scholar Pierre Daniel Huet.
 * Schlosstheater Celle is founded. By the 21st century it will be the oldest surviving theatre in Germany.
 * The derivative nature of Restoration drama is displayed when the Duke's Company produces Thomas Shadwell's "operatic" re-adaptation of Dryden and Davenant's 1667 adaptation of The Tempest. In response, their rivals at the King's Company stage The Mock Tempest, or the Enchanted Castle by Thomas Duffet.

Prose

 * Samuel Chappuzeau – Le Théâtre François
 * Charles Cotton – The Compleat Gamester
 * John Evelyn – Navigation and Commerce
 * John Josselyn – An Account of the Voyages to New England, London: Printed for Giles Widdows
 * Thomas Ken – Manual of Prayers for the use of the Scholars of Winchester College
 * Anthony Wood – Historia et antiquitates Universitatis Oxoniensis

Drama

 * Anonymous (and John Dryden?) – The Mistaken Husband
 * Juan Bautista Diamante – Parte II de comedias
 * William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle – The Triumphant Widow
 * Pierre Corneille – Suréna
 * John Crowne – Andromache
 * Sir William Davenant – Macbeth, a "dramatic opera" adapted from Shakespeare's play, is published
 * Thomas Duffet (attributed to) – The Amorous Old Woman
 * The Empress of Morocco: a Farce
 * The Mock Tempest
 * Nathaniel Lee – The Tragedy of Nero, Emperour of Rome
 * Jean Racine – Iphigénie
 * Elkanah Settle – Love and Revenge

Poetry

 * Thomas Flatman – Poems and Songs
 * John Milton – Paradise Lost, second edition

Births

 * January 15 – Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, French poet and dramatist (died 1762)
 * June 20 – Nicholas Rowe (dramatist) English dramatist and Poet Laureate (died 1718)
 * October – Thomas Ruddiman, Scottish classicist (died 1757)
 * October 6 – Nicolas-Hubert de Mongault, French writer and cleric (died 1746)
 * December – Christmas Samuel, Welsh writer and minister (died 1764)

Deaths

 * March 7 – Charles Sorel, sieur de Souvigny, French novelist (born 1602)
 * June 14 – Marin le Roy de Gomberville, French poet and novelist (born 1600)
 * August 13 – Lucidor (Lars Johansson), Swedish burlesque poet (born 1638; killed in duel)
 * September 27
 * Robert Arnauld d'Andilly, French poet and translator (born 1589)
 * Thomas Traherne, English poet and religious writer (born c. 1636)
 * October – Robert Herrick, English poet (born 1591)
 * November 8 – John Milton, English poet and polemicist (born 1608)
 * December 9 – Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon English historian and statesman (born 1609)
 * Unknown dates
 * Hu Zhengyan, Chinese artist, printmaker, calligrapher and publisher (born c. 1584)
 * James Janeway, English children's writer and Puritan minister (born 1636)
 * Miguel Sánchez, Mexican priest, writer and theologian (born 1594)