1695 in literature

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1695.

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 (the Bible de Port-Royal).
 * Wren Library, Cambridge, the library of Trinity College, designed by Christopher Wren, is completed.

Prose

 * Mary Astell (anonymous) – A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, for the Advancement of Their True and Greatest Interest
 * Charles Blount – Miscellaneous Works (ed. Charles Gildon)
 * Gilbert Burnet – An Essay on the Memory of the Late Queen (see 1694 in literature, as many memorials were written to Mary II of England)
 * Jeremy Collier – Miscellanies upon Moral Subjects: The second part
 * John Dennis – The Court of Death
 * John Dryden – De Arte Graphica (trans. of Charles Alphonse du Fresnoy)
 * Laurence Echard – The Roman History (vol. I)
 * "N. H." – The Ladies Dictionary, being a general entertainment of the fair-sex: a work never attempted before in English (published by John Dunton)
 * Nicolaas Heinsius the Younger – The Delightful Adventures and Wonderful Life of Mirandor (Den vermakelijken Avanturier)
 * 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 (reply to John Edwards)
 * John Norris – Letters Concerning the Love of God (letters to Mary Astell)
 * Sir William Petty – Quantulumcunque Concerning Money (published posthumously)
 * John Phillips – A Reflection on Our Modern Poetry
 * Sujan Rai – Khulasat-ut-Tawarikh
 * Robert South – Tritheism (vs. William Sherlock)
 * 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 (compiled and edited) – 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 (Tales and stories of the past with morals. Tales of Mother Goose)

Drama

 * John Banks – Cyrus the Great
 * 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
 * Elkanah Settle – Philaster; or, Love Lies A-Bleeding (adapted from Fletcher's Philaster)
 * Thomas Scott – The Mock Marriage
 * Thomas Southerne – Oroonoko, or The Royal Slave: a tragedy (adapted from Aphra Behn's novel Oroonoko)
 * 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 (on Mary II)
 * John Milton – The Poetical Works of Mr John Milton (ed. Patrick Hume)
 * 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 (died 1723)
 * September 20 – Hedvig Catharina Lillie, Swedish salonnière (died 1745)

Deaths

 * February 7 – Dorothy Osborne (Lady Temple), English letter writer (born 1627)
 * April 13 – Jean de la Fontaine, French poet and fabulist (born 1621)
 * April 17 – Juana Inés de la Cruz, Mexican poet (born 1651; plague)
 * April 23 – Henry Vaughan, Welsh metaphysical poet (born 1622)
 * June 11 – André Félibien, French court historian (born 1619)
 * August 12 – Huang Zongxi, Chinese political theorist (born 1610)
 * October – Sir William Killigrew, English playwright and courtier (born 1606)
 * November 28 – Anthony Wood, English antiquary (born 1632)