This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1606.

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 (his brother-in-law) at Hampton Court Palace in England.^[1]
• 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 (St. Stephen's Day) – 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 (published)
  • The Returne from Pernassus, or The Scourge of Simony
  • Wily Beguiled
• Anonymous (probably Thomas Middleton) – The Revenger's Tragedy^[2]
• George Chapman
  • Sir Giles Goosecap (attributed; published)^[3]
  • The Gentleman Usher (published)
  • Monsieur D'Olive (published)
• John Day – The Isle of Gulls
• Lope de Vega
  • El anzuelo de Fenisa (Fenisa's Hook)
  • La discreta enamorada [es]
  • El gran duque de Moscovia
• Ben Jonson
  • Volpone
  • Hymenaei
• John Marston
  • The Wonder of Women, or the Tragedy of Sophonisba
  • Parasitaster, or The Fawn (published)
• Thomas Middleton (attributed) – The Puritan, or, The Widow of Watling-Street (probable date)
• William Shakespeare^[4]
  • Macbeth (possible first performance)
  • King Lear (first recorded performance)
• Edward Sharpham – The Fleir

Poetry

• Hieronim Morsztyn – Światowa Rozkosz (Worldly Pleasure)
• Jean Passerat (posthumous) – Recueil des œuvres poétiques

Births

• February 28 – William Davenant, English poet and dramatist (died 1668)
• March 3 – Edmund Waller, English poet (died 1687)
• May 12 – Joachim von Sandrart, German art historian (died 1688)
• June 6 – Pierre Corneille, French dramatist (died 1684)
• Unknown dates
  • Pierre du Ryer, French dramatist (died 1658)
  • Junije Palmotić, Ragusan dramatist and poet (died 1657)

Deaths

• May 13 (burial) – Arthur Golding, English translator (born c. 1536)
• May 17 – Niccolò Orlandini, Italian Jesuit writer (born 1554)
• May 30 – Guru Arjan, Sikh Guru and compiler of scriptures (in custody, born 1563)
• September 28 – Nicolaus Taurellus, German philosopher and theologian (born 1547)
• October 5 – Philippe Desportes, French poet (born 1546)
• November 13 – Girolamo Mercuriale, Italian philologist and medical writer (born 1530)
• November 20 (burial) – John Lyly, English dramatist, poet and novelist (born c. 1553)
• November 22 – Sir Henry Billingsley, English translator (birth year unknown)
• Unknown date – Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer – Dutch cartographer (born 1533/1534)