This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1689.
Events April 30 – Thomas Shadwell becomes Poet Laureate and Historiographer Royal in England. April/May – Jonathan Swift becomes secretary to Sir William Temple. May 26 – Matsuo Bashō begins the journey described in Oku no Hosomichi (Narrow Road to the Deep North).
New books Prose Richard Cox – George Hickes – John Locke Two Treatises of Government (anonymous) A Letter Concerning Toleration (as by 'P.A.P.O.I.L.A.', in Latin) An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (dated 1690) John Selden (died 1654) – Table Talk Johann Weikhard von Valvasor – The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola (Die Ehre deß Hertzogthums Crain)
Drama Aphra Behn – The Widow Ranter James Carlile – The Fortune Hunters Sor Juana – (Love the Greater Labyrinth) Nathaniel Lee – The Massacre of Paris William Mountfort – The Successful Strangers Thomas Shadwell – Bury Fair Nahum Tate – Dido and Aeneas Matthew Taubman – London's Great Jubilee
Births January 18 – Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, French satirist (died 1755) January 21 – Daniel Henchman, Colonial American bookseller and publisher (died 1761) May 26 – Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, English poet and letter-writer (died 1762) July 9 – Alexis Piron, French epigrammatist (died 1773) August 19 (bapt.) – Samuel Richardson, English novelist (died 1761)
Deaths January – William Chamberlayne, English poet and playwright (born c. 1619) February 21 – Isaac Vossius, Dutch-born collector of manuscripts (born 1618) April 16 – Aphra Behn, English dramatist, poet and novelist (born 1640) August 21 – William Cleland, Scottish soldier and poet (killed in battle, born c. 1661) November 13 – Philipp von Zesen, German poet and hymn-writer (born 1619) December 13 – Zbigniew Morsztyn, Polish poet (born c. 1628) Unknown date – Pjetër Bogdani, Albanian-language author (born c. 1630)
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