To download an available text, click on its title. Available texts are identified by a red boldface LEME ID. For a detailed listing of all language texts in this period, see the Detailed Primary Bibliography.
Texts are organized chronologically by reigning English monarch.
EDWARD IV
1475
§ The court of Edward IV favoured French
§ Anglo-French treaty of Picquiny
§ 35,362 pre-1475 OED headwords survive into Early Modern English
1476
§ William Caxton set up a printing press in Westminster
1477
§ Anthony Woodville, The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers, the first book to be printed in England
835 The Horse, the Goose, and the Sheep
1478
§ Execution of George, duke of Clarence, in the Tower of London
1479
§ Caxton published the Nova Rhetorica and the Epitome of Lorenzo Guglielmo Traversagni in 1479-80
1480
537 Pepys MS of the Medulla Grammatice
20 Description of Britain (Higden)
1481
1482
RICHARD III
1483
§ Completion of St. George’s Chapel, Windsor
§ Death of Edward IV
§ Reign of Richard III (-1485)
21 Catholicon Anglicum
1484
§ Incorporation of the College of Heralds
HENRY VII
1485
§ Death of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field
§ Reign of Henry VII (-1509)
§ English statutes were first printed in two columns, French and English
838 St. Alban’s Chronicle
1486
§ Birth of Prince Arthur to the King and Elizabeth Woodville
22 Juliana Berners (attributed), Book of Saint Albans
1487
§ John Stanbridge replaces the first humanist Latinist, John Anwykll, at a new grammar school at Magdalen College, Oxford
§ Caxton published the Latin grammar by Aelius Donatus, as updated by Antonius Mancinellus
1488
1489
§ Anglo-Spanish treaty of Medina del Campo
§ New statutes were only printed in English (Statutes, II, v, 540)
1490
1491
§ Birth of Prince Henry (the future Henry VIII)
1492
§ Christopher Columbus discovers the Bahamas and Cuba
§ Henry VII invades France
§ Peace of Etaples
§ Wynkyn de Worde succeeds Caxton
1493
1494
1495
1496
§ “Magnus Intercursus,” a trade agreement between the Netherlands and England
§ John Holt writes Lac Puerorum ca. 1496-1500 (printed 1505) at Lambeth Palace under John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury
1497
§ Sebastian Cabot reaches Newfoundland
§ Rising in Cornwall and defeat of the rebels at Blackheath
§ Capture of Perkin Warbeck
§ Betrothal of Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon
§ Destruction of Sheen Palace by fire
24 de Worde, English and French
1498
1499
§ Execution of Perkin Warbeck
§ Richard Fox, bishop of Durham, in introducing The Contemplation of Sinners (1499), describes English as “our grosse natyue langage” in comparison with the perfection of Latin
1500
§ Henry VIII’s multilingual secretariat about this time: for Prince Arthur, Bernard André, Latin poet and historiographer; for Prince Henry, the Anglo-Latin John Skelton – followed by John Holt and William Hone — and francophone Giles Duwes; a Latin secretary (Silvestro Gigli, followed by Pietro Carmeliano); a royal librarian (Quentin Poulet to 1507, and then William Faques, who commanded a well-stocked library at Richmond); a royal poet in English (Stephen Hawes); and a king’s printer (William Faques).
1501
§ Marriage of Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon
§ John Stanbridge becomes master of the free grammar school at the hospital of St John at Banbury, Oxfordshire
1502
§ Death of Prince Arthur
§ Marriage of James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor
§ John Holt appointed grammar master to Prince Henry
1503
§ Death of Queen Elizabeth (daughter of Elizabeth Woodville and Edward IV)
1504
§ John Skelton left court
1505
1506
§ Joanna and Philip of Castile are shipwrecked in England
1507
§ England and the Netherlands sign a trade agreement
1508
§ Sebastian Cabot searches for the northwest passage
1413 Milk for Children by the humanist grammarian, John Holt
1497 Anonymous, The Book of Carving
1509
§ Death of Henry VII
§ Reign of Henry VIII (-1447)
§ Marriage of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon
§ St Paul’s School, London, is founded by John Colet, Dean of St. Paul’s
37 Vulgaria by the humanist grammarian, John Stanbridge
HENRY VIII
1510
§ John Colet founds St Paul’s School and afterward appoints William Lily as its first master
23 Vocabula by the humanist grammarian, John Stanbridge
1511
§ Erasmus teaches Greek at Cambridge
§ Henry VIII orders the proclamation of the Statre of Winchester to be printed in English
1442 The Calendar of shepherds
1512
§ John Skelton describes himself as orator regius.
§ Erasmus writes De Copia
§ England at war with France
1513
§ Cardinal Wolsey becomes Chancellor
§ Henry VIII wins the Battle of the Spurs
§ The English defeat the Scots at Flodden Field
§ John Palsgrave appointed schoolmaster to Princess Mary
§ William Lily produces a short Latin syntax, supervised by Erasmus, at John Colet’s request about this time
883 The Flores of Ovid de arte amandi
1514
§ Mary Tudor marries Louis XII of France
1515
§ Mary Tudor marries Charles Brandon
§ Completion of Hampton Court Palace
§ The Duke of Albany becomes Protector of Scotland
§ Ca. 1515-19 the Venetian diplomat, Sebastian Giustinian, said that Henry VIII knew “French, English, and Latin, and a little Italian” and spoke the first three easily
1516
§ Thomas More’s Utopia
1517
§ Evil May Day
1518
§ Peace of London
1519
§ “Grammarians’ war,” about methods of teaching Latin, between grammar-oriented traditionals like Robert Whittington, and imitators of the most eloquent authors (William Horman, William Lily)
38 William Horman’s Vulgaria, English sentences translated into Latin, attacked by Robert Whittington in verses affixed to the door of St Paul’s School
1520
§ Complutensian Bible published (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek Old Testament, Latin)
§ Henry VIII and Francis I meet at the Field of Cloth of Gold
1521
§ Treaty of Bruges
§ The Pope names Henry the Defender of the Faith for his anti-Lutheran Assertio Septem Sacramentorum
§ In “Speke Parott” John Skelton attacks teaching that emphasizes eloquence at the expense of definition of things
§ Grammarians William Horman and William Lily attack Robert Whittington in Antibossicon
705 Alexander Barclay, Introductory to Write and to Pronounce French
1522
§ Charles I visits England
§ William Lily dies
1523
§ English forces occupy Montalidier in France
1152 John Fitzherbert, Book of Surveying
40 John Fitzherbert, Husbandry
1524
§ John Rastell’s 88-page Exposiciones terminorum legum anglorum (STC dates it in 1523, and Rastell’s bibliographer, E. J. Devereux, about 1524), the first printed monolingual English word-entries of the beginnings of the legal lexicon
1525
§ Cardinal Wolsey gives Hampton Court to Henry VIII
§ John Palsgrave appointed schoolmaster to Henry Fitzroy, Henry VIII’s illegitimate son
1261 Fromond List of Garden Plants
42 Bankes’s Herbal, first printed English herbal
836 John Rastell, Expositions of the Terms of the Law
1526
§ Anglo-Scottish Peace
§ William Tyndale publishes his English New Testament in Worms
44 Great Herbal
45 Erasmus, De Misericordia Domini
1527
§ Anglo-French Alliance
46 Statutes
47 Virtuous Book of Distillation
1528
1529
§ Legatine court tries the legality of Henry’s Marriage
§ Fall of Cardinal Wolsey
§ York Place (later Whitehall) goes to Henry VIII
1530
§ Death of Cardinal Wolsey
49 John Palsgrave, Lesclarcissement
50 William Tyndale, Old Testament Pentateuch
1531
§ Henry VIII is titled Supreme Head of the Church in England
§ Sir Thomas Elyot’s The Governor
1463 George Joye, Letters
1532
§ Treaty of Boulogne
§ Submission of the clergy to Henry VIII
43 Leonard Cox, Art or Crafte of Rhetoryke, the first printed book on its subject
1533
§ Marriage and coronation of Anne Boleyn
§ Excommunication of Henry VIII
§ Birth of Elizabeth
842 Giles Du Wes, French
1534
§ Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury
§ Jacques Cartier sails up the St. Lawrence River
§ Act of Supremacy makes Henry VIII supreme head of the church in England
§ William Tyndale publishes his revised New Testament in Antwerp
§ Nicholas Udall’s Floures for Latine Spekynge … out of Terence
692 William Tyndale, New Testament
1535
§ Executions of Sir Thomas More and John Fisher
§ First English New Testament concordances (by Coverdale)
§ Suppression of religious houses begins
§ Reform of the universities
1536
§ Execution of Anne Boleyn
§ Henry VIII marries Anne Seymour
§ Publication of the Ten Articles
§ Pilgrimage of Grace in the north
§ Wales controlled by England
§ Thomas Cromwell becomes Lord Privy Seal
§ Execution of William Tyndale near Brussels
1537
§ Birth of Edward
§ Death of Jane Seymour
§ In Antwerp Matthew Crom prints Tyndale’s translation of half the Old Testament and the complete New Testament
1260 Richard Benese, Measuring
1538
§ Thomas Cromwell authorizes the Bible in English
§ Destruction of images in southern England, including Becket’s shrine in Canterbury
53 Sir Thomas Elyot, Latin-English Dictionary, first using continental scholarship
54 William Turner, Re Herbaria Novus
1539
§ Six Articles of Religion
§ Publication of the Great (English) Bible (to be placed in all parish churches by 1540)
1540
§ Execution of Thomas Cromwell
§ Marriage of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves (annulled in July)
§ Marriage of Henry VIII to Catherine Howard
§ Regius Professorships of Greek at Oxford and Cambridge
1541
§ Henry VIII becomes King of Ireland
1542
§ Henry VIII made king of Ireland
§ Execution of Catherine Howard
§ Scottish army attacked England at the Battle of Solway
§ Thomas Smith made Regius Professor of Civil Law at Cambridge, arguing that philology and history (not so much authority or precedent) should determine legal interpretation
§ Sir Thomas Smith, De recta et emendate linguae anglicae scriptione, on spelling reform (unpublished until 1568)
1443 William Lily, Introduction
63 Sir Thomas Elyot, Bibliotheca
1543
§ Marriage of Henry VIII to Catherine Parr
§ The King’s Book is published
§ Nation-wide required use of Lily’s grammar in teaching
58 Bartholomew Traheron, Surgery, first book on medicine using the new science
1544
§ England invades Scotland and France
§ Henry VIII captures Boulogne
§ Sir John Cheke, the first Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge, was appointed Edward’s tutor “of toungues, of the scripture, of philosophie and all liberal sciences.”
1545
884 Slander
1546
803 Thomas Phayer, Regiment of Life
1547
§ Death of Henry VIII
§ Reign of Edward VI (-1553)
§ Edward Seymour, earl of Hertford, becomes Lord Protector and duke of Somerset
§ Six Articles repealed
62 William Salesbury, English and Welsh
61 Robert Recorde, Urinal of Physic
EDWARD VI
1548
§ First Act of Uniformity
§ Thomas Cooper expands Elyot’s Bibliotheca
§ Chantries Act
§ Definitive form of Lily’s grammar appears
64 William Turner, Names of Herbs
1549
§ First Book of Common Prayer (by Archbishop Cranmer)
§ Suppression of Robert Kett’s rebellion in Norfolk and of the Prayer Book rising in the West
§ Fall of Somerset
1393 William Baldwin, Canticles
1550
§ Peace of Boulogne (ending the war with Scotland and France)
§ Boulogne returned to France
69 Richard Sherrey, Treatise of Schemes, the first in English
70 William Thomas’s Italian Grammar with a Dictionary
1551
§ John Dudley, earl of Warwick, becomes duke of Northumberland
§ Sir John Cheke left an unpublished translation of the New Testament ca. 1551-53 that prefers Old and Middle English words rather than modern words taken from Latin and French
708 John Hart, herald and phonetician, Writing of our English Tongue (unpublished), on English spelling reform
707 Thomas Wilson, The Rule of Reason (corrected in 1552 and 1553), proposed a theory of meaning having two definitions, one for things (in classical rhetoric), and a second for the words that named them (the etymon)
1552
§ Edward Seymour executed
§ Second Book of Common Prayer
§ Forty-two Articles
§ Edward VI founds many grammar schools
§ Nicholas Udall prepares an English edition of Thomas Gemini’s work on anatomy, Compendiosa totius anatomiae delineatio
75 Richard Howlet (Huloet), Abecedarium
76 Jean Veron, Dictionariolum Puerorum
1177 William Copland, Properties of Herbs
MARY I
1553
§ John Withals, Short Dictionary, popular through sixteen editions to 1634
§ Death of Edward VI
§ Reign of Mary Tudor
§ Lady Jane Grey proclaimed queen on July 10 and deposed July 19
§ Execution of Northumberland
§ Marriage treaty between Mary and Philip of Spain
§ Repeal of Act of Uniformity
§ Restoration of old church service and Catholic bishops
§ Protestant leaders go into exile
77 Piers the Plowman’s Creed
67 Pope John XXI, Treasury of Health
1554
§ Suppression of Wyatt’s rebellion against the Spanish marriage
§ Execution of Lady Jane Grey
§ Marriage of Mary and Philip
§ William Thomas was hanged, drawn, and quartered for treason
§ Mary of Guise, the Queen Mother, becomes Queen of Scotland
81 Book of English and Spanish
1555
§ Philip leaves England: Parliament rejects his coronation as king of England
82 Richard Eden, Decades of the New World
83 Richard Sherrey, Figures of Grammar
1556
§ Cardinal Pole, papal legate, becomes Archbishop of Canterbury and Thomas Cranmer, his predecessor, burned at the stake
78 John Withals, Short Dictionary
1557
§ Philip returns to England
§ England, ally of Spain, declares war on France
§ Stationers’ Company chartered
§ William Whittingham publishes the New Testament at Geneva
88 Verba obsoleta et alia
833 Verba Anglica Obscura et Glosata
ELIZABETH I
1558
§ France captures Calais
§ Mary, Queen of Scots, marries the Dauphin
§ Death of Mary I
§ Reign of Elizabeth I (17 November 1558-1603)
§ An anonymous biography of Sir William Cecil, says that he “never read any Books or Praiers, but in Lattin, French, or Italian: very seldome in English”
90 Fabian Withers, Art of Chiromancy
1559
§ Matthew Parker becomes Archbishop of Canterbury
§ New Acts of Uniformity and Supremacy
§ Revised Book of Common Prayer
1560
§ Geneva Bible published
93 Wm. Whittingham, Geneva-Bible proper names
1561
§ Richard Mulcaster appointed as the first master of the Merchant Taylors’ School in London (until 1586)
96 Barnabe Googe, Zodiac of Life
1562
§ Thirty-nine Articles
§ England engages in the slave trade
97 William Bulleyn, Bulwark of Defence
1563
§ John Rastell’s Exposition was published in thirty editions up to 1742 (in 1607 and after by the Company of Stationers)
1464 Thomas Gale’s Workes of Chirurgerie
1564
§ England and France sign the Peace of Troyes
1565
§ Thomas Cooper’s Latin-English Thesaurus, based on Estienne and Elyot
102 Arthur Golding, Caesar
105 Thomas Peend, Hermaphroditus
1386 Laurence Nowell, glossing Howlet
1566
§ Archbishop Matthew Parker’s “Advertisements” regularize church ritual
§ Vestarian controversy
§ Birth of James VI, son of Mary Queen of Scots
§ Royal Exchange founded in London
106 David Chalmers, Dictionary of Scots Law, dedicated to Mary Queen of Scots
107 John Jones, Dial for all Agues
1465 Thomas Gale, Certain Works of Galen’s
1567
§ James VI succeeds Mary, Queen of Scots, as king of Scotland
109 Thomas Harman, Caveat, first work on canting language
110 William Lily, Introduction to Grammar
65 Laurence Nowell, Vocabularium Saxonicum
1568
§ The Bishops’ Bible
§ Sir Thomas Smith, De recta et emendate linguae anglicae scriptione, on spelling reform
98 Gerard Legh, Accidence of Armony
799 Andrew Thevet, New Found World
1569
§ Sir John Cheke proposes spelling reforms
115 John Hart, An Orthography
1570
§ Papal excommunication of Elizabeth I
§ Roger Ascham’s The Schoolmaster
§ Appointment of George Buchanan, who favoured Latin over Scots, made tutor of James VI
§ John Dee publishes Euclid’s Elements
117 Thomas Tymme, Catholic Exposition
120 John Levens, Manipulus Vocabulorum
121 John Hart, To Read English
1571
§ Enforcement of Thirty-nine Articles against clergy
124 L. and T. Digges, Pantometria
125 Lucas Harrison, Dictionary French and English
1572
§ Richard Howlet, re-edition of Abcedarium Anglico-Latinum, sold for 8s. in 1585
1466 Thomas Wilson, Discourse upon Usury
1573
128 Claude Hollyband, French Schoolmaster
129 Ralph Lever, Art of Reason
130 David Powell (attri.), Geography
1394 Thomas Twyne, Breviary of Britain
1574
127 John Baret, Triple Dictionary
131 William Bourne, Regiment for the Sea
1575
§ Edmund Grindal becomes archbishop of Canterbury
100 John Awdely, Vagabonds
140 William Patten, Calender of Scripture
1576
§ Puritans fail in Parliament to reform
§ Geneva Bible reissued by Laurence Tomson
§ The Theatre opens in Shoreditch
§ Thomas Cooper’s Thesaurus sold for 23 shillings
1388 Abraham Fleming, Of English Dogs
1577
§ Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles
§ Grindal refuses to suppress puritan prophesyings
§ Curtain Theatre opens in Finsbury
§ Francis Drake circumnavigates the globe (to 1580)
710 Richard Stanihurst, Chronicles
875 Wm. Lambarde, Dictionarium Angliae Topographicum
144 Henry Peacham, Garden of Eloquence
1578
149 Rembert Dodoens, New Herbal
1400 Thomas Cooper, Thesaurus Linguae Romanae
146 William Bourne, Treasure for Travelers
1579
150 L. and T. Digges, Stratioticos
151 John Rastell, Terms of the Law of England
152 Edward Kirke, Shepherds’ Calendar
1580
§ Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, and Christopher Hatton, obtained a monopoly, dated April 25, 1580, for printer Henry Bynneman to print “all Dictionaries in all tongues.”
155 Jacques Cartier, Navigations
159 Simon Pelegromius, Synonymorum Sylva
154 William Bullokar, Book at Large, proposed a new grammar, a set of readers in his alphabet, manuscript form of those characters, and a dictionary of different spellings for homophones.
1467 John Baret, Alvearie, or, Quadruple Dictionarie (sold for 8s. in 1585)
1581
§ Legislation against Roman Catholics in England
§ Execution of Edmund Campion
1290 Stephen Batman, A Note of Saxon Words
813 William Fleetwood, Forests, Parks, Chases and Free Warrens
1582
§ Establishment of the Accademia della Crusca to regulate the Italian language
§ Duai-Rheims (Roman Catholic) Bible
162 Stephen Batman, Batman upon Bartholomew
163 Gregory Martin, New Testament
1583
§ Discovery of Somerville plot to assassinate Elizabeth
§ At his death, Henry Bynneman had published Jean Crespin’s Lexicon Graecolatinum and part of a Greek-Latin-English dictionary by Morel(ius)
§ Ralph Newbery and his printer Henry Denham obtained Bynneman’s monopoly for printing dictionaries: they brought out Morelius (1583), Adrianus Junius’ Nomenclator (1583), and Veron’s old dictionary (1584), and Cooper (1584) from those patented by Bynneman
168 Guillaume Morel, Verborum Latinorum cum Graecis (sold for 18s. 6d. in 1585)
169 Philip Barrough, The Method of Physic
1584
§ Philip II, Parma, and the Duke of Guise try to depose Elizabeth and replace her by Mary, Queen of Scots
990 Veron, Estienne and Fleming, Dictionary in Latin and English
171 James VI, Essays of a Prentice
170 Thomas Hudson, History of Judith
257 Mark Ridley, Vulgar Russe Tongue
1585
§ Expulsion of Jesuits and seminarists from England
§ John David reaches Baffin Bay (to 1593)
173 Hadrianus Junius and John Higgins, Nomenclator
172 John Blagrave, The Mathematical Jewel
1027 Ambrogio Calepino, Dictionarium decem linguarum
1586
§ Babington plot, with support of Mary, Queen of Scots, to assassinate Elizabeth
§ The Society of Antiquaries forms in London
649 Angel Day, English Secretary
174 William Bullokarz pamphlet for Grammar (the first dedicated to English)
1587
§ Execution of Mary Queen of Scots
§ Christopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine
178 Leonard Mascall, The First Book of Cattle
179 Thomas Thomas, Dictionarium Linguae Latinae
1588
§ The Spanish Armada destroyed at sea
§ “Martin Marprelate” accuses Cooper of plagiarizing Elyot, Estienne, and others in Thesaurus
714 Thomas Harriot, New Found Land of Virginia
137 Timothy Bright, Charactery
1468 Lucas Janszoon Waghenaer, Mariners’ Mirror
1589
184 George Puttenham, Art of English Poesy
185 Thomas Blundeville, Universal Maps and Cards
186 John Rider, Bibliotheca Scholastica
1590
§ Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene, Books I-III
§ Thomas D’Oylie’s Spanish grammar and Spanish-Latin-English dictionary (lost) entered in Stationers’ Register
539 Peter Bales, Writing Schoolmaster
190 John del Corro, The Spanish Grammar
193 William Vallans, A Tale of Two Swans
192 Cyprian Lucar, Lucarsolace
1420 Anonymous, The Cobbler of Canterbury
1591
195 Leonard Digges, Pantometria
200 Robert Greene, Second Part of Coney-Catching
199 William Stepney, The Spanish School-Master
198 Richard Perceval, Bibliotheca Hispanica, containing D’Oylie’s work
1494 William Camden, The Etymologie and Original of Barons
1592
201 Robert Greene, The Black Book’s Messenger
204 Robert Tanner, Use of the Sphere
203 Thomas Nashe, Strange News
1593
§ Elizabeth translates Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy from the Latin in 25 days
203 Thomas Harman, Groundwork of Conny-catching
209 Henry Peacham, Garden of Eloquence
206 Gabriel Harvey, Piers’ Supererogation
205 Claudius Hollyband, Dictionary French and English
207 John Udall, The Key of the Holy Tongue
208 John Norden, Speculum Britanniae: Middlesex
1146 John Eliot, Ortho-epia Gallica: Eliot’s Fruits for the French
1594
212 Paul Greaves, Grammatica Anglicana
211 Thomas Blundeville, Exercises
1555 Robert Dudley, Aroaca, Sermo Indianus
1595
§ Sir Walter Raleigh reaches Trinidad
214 Abraham Hartwell, The History of the Wars between the Turks and the Persians
215 Andrew Duncan, Latinorum Grammaticae Pars Prior
1596
§ Richard Mulcaster became headmaster of St Paul’s School in London
216 Edmund Coote, The English Schoolmaster, the first hard-words dictionary (54 editions by 1737)
1597
§ Francis Bacon’s Essays (enlarged in 1612 and 1625)
219 Anonymous, Exposition of Obscure Words
221 John Gerard, Herbal
847 John Skene, De Verborum Significatione, the first published dictionary of Scots law
123 Simon Sturtevant, The Latin Nomenclator
529 Peter Bales, The Art of Brachygraphy
1598
§ Death of William Cecil, Lord Burghley
§ James VI in this year and the next wrote Basilikon Doron, his book on kingship, intended for his son Prince Henry
233 Thomas Rogers, Celestial Elegies
231 John Florio, A World of Words
226 Thomas Bastard, Chrestoleros
265 Jacob Mosan, Praxis Medicinae Universalis
1127 John Norden, Speculi Britaniae Pars: Hertfordshire
225 Robert Barret, The Theoric and Practice of Modern Wars
232 John Marston, Scourge of Villainy
268 Thomas Speight, Works of Geoffrey Chaucer
228 Jacques Cartier, Principal Navigations
1486 Robert Cotton, The Etymology, Antiquity and Privilege of Castles
1599
236 Oswald Gabelkouer, Book of Physic
1438 Simon Stevin, The Haven-finding Art
237 John Minsheu, A Dictionary in Spanish and English
1444 John Minsheu, A Dictionarie in English and Spanish
1445 Thomas Blundeville, The Art of Logic, which repeated Thomas Wilson’s theory of meaning
1483 Robert Cotton, Of the Antiquity, Etymology, and Privilege of Towns
1488 Robert Cotton, Of Dimension of Land
1489 Arthur Agard, Dimensions of the Land of England
1513 Angell Day, The English Secretary
1600
§ East India Company established by royal charter
§ William Gilbert, De Magnete
800 William Fulbecke, Study of the Law
258 Philemon Holland, The Roman History
1487 Robert Cotton, Of the Antiquity of Motts and Words, with Arms of Noblemen and Gentlemen of England
1558 Gregory Martin,New Testament Glosses
1601
§ Robert Devereux, earl of Essex, executed for treason
238 John Thorius, Theatre of the Earth
259 Philemon Holland, History of the World
1602
271 John Tapp, Seaman’s Calendar
JAMES I
1603
§ Toleration granted to Roman Catholics
§ Union of England and Scotland
§ Elizabeth I dies
§ Reign of James I
§ The King’s Basilikon Doron in English urges his son Henry “to write in your owne language: for there is nothing left to be saide in Greeke and Latine already,” and says that the king’s duty is to “purifie” his own tongue
1604
§ Queen Anne appointed John Florio her private secretary and reader in Italian
§ At the Hampton Court Conference, James commanded a new translation of the Bible, one that did not use hard words, and rebuffs Puritan reforms to bishops
701 José de Acosta, East and West Indies
276 Robert Cawdrey, Table Alphabetical
277 Robert Norton, Mathematical Appendix
1490 Arthur Agard, Of the diversity of Names of this Island
1492 William Camden, Of the diversity of names of this Island
1493 William Camden, Of the Antiquity, Office and Privilege of Heralds in England
1605
§ Gunpowder Plot by Guy Fawkes to blow up Parliament discovered
§ Francis Bacon’s Advancement of Learning reproves “fantastical learning,” which studies “eloquence, and copie of speech” (copia), “words, and not matter”
279 Josuah Sylvester, Divine Weeks
278 William Camden, Remains
281 Richard Verstegan, Restitution of Decayed Intelligence
1606
222 Francis Holyoake, Rider’s Dictionary
284 Henry Spelman, Archaismus Graphicus
1607
§ Jamestown was founded in Virginia
§ Henry Hudson discovers Hudson Bay (-1611)
197 John Harington, Orlando Furioso
285 John Cowell, The Interpreter
1204 Francis Tate, English Words usual in the Marches of Wales
1469 Edward Topsell, The History of Four-footed Beasts
1608
§ Alexander Gill was appointed master of St Paul’s School, following Richard Mulcaster
287 Thomas Dekker, Lanthorn and Candle-light
289 Thomas James, Two Short Treatises
1270 Josuah Sylvester, Bartas His divine Weeks
288 Thomas Dekker, The Bellman of London
1556 Edward Topsell, Of Serpents
1609
§ Ulster (Northern Ireland) settled by English and Scottish protestants
1479 Robert and Thomas Cawdrey, A table Alphabetical
1610
§ Objections from Parliament lead James to reprimand John Cowell for his words on the right of kings in The Interpreter (1607), a dictionary of English civil law: the book is burned, Cowell loses his Regius Professorship, and the king is embarrassed
§ Recommended by William Camden, Minsheu obtains a royal patent for 21 years to publish Ductor in Linguas
1138 William Camden and Philemon Holland, Britain
296 Samuel Rid, Martin Mark-all
702 W Folkingham, Feudigraphia
1611
§ The Authorized Version of the English Bible was published
299 John Florio, Queen Anna’s New World of Words
1407 Josuah Sylvester. Divine Weeks and Judith
298 Randle Cotgrave, Dictionary of the French and English Tongues
297 Miles Smith, The Holy Bible
1612
§ Death of Prince Henry
690 Samuel Rid, Art of Juggling
308 Thomas Wilson, Christian Dictionary
305 William Strachey, History of Travel into Virginia
850 John Smith, Map of Virginia
182 Anonymous, Rawlinson MS Glossary
1613
§ Princess Elizabeth marries Frederick, Elector Palatine
1426 Robert Cawdrey, Table Alphabetical
1614
§ John Napier invents logarithms
312 Gervase Markham, Cheap and Good Husbandry
318 William Bedwell, Mohammedis imposturae
321 Symon Latham, Latham’s Falconry
1615
§ Henry Carew, in “The Excellency of the English Tongue,” praises English for its economical monosyllabic base
317 William Welde, Ianua Linguarum
322 Robert Recorde, Ground of Arts
1616
§ Death of William Shakespeare
§ To inherit land, the Gaelic Scots had to speak, read, and write English
323 John Bullokar, English Expositor, third hard-word dictionary after Coote and Cawdrey
1379 Walter Hinds, British Romani Vocabulary
1427 Aaron Rathborne, The Surveyor
1617
§ Worshipful Society of Apothecaries incorporated in London
820 Robert Cawdrey, Table Alphabetical
329 John Woodall, Surgeon’s Mate
326 John Minsheu, Ductor in Linguas
272 Alexander Hume, Orthography of the Britan Tongue
328 Robert Robinson, Art of Pronunciation
1618
§ Declaration of Sports
§ Thirty Years’ War begins
330 Thomas Cartwright, Confutation
1619
§ Death of Queen Anna
1428 J. T., Hunting of the Pox
331 Alexander Gill, Logonomia Anglica
1620
§ Pilgrims on the Mayflower arrives in America
334 Richard James, Russian-English vocabulary
1621
§ The first English-language newspaper, the Corante, translated from the Dutch
1390 John Bullokar, English Expositor
333 Henry Mainwaring, Nomenclator Navalis
335 John Evans, Palace of Profitable Pleasure
1622
1130 Peter Burton, Description of Leicestershire
1623
343 Henry Cockeram, English Dictionary
661 Anonymous, Dictionary English and Latin
342 John Locke, Philosophical definitions
1624
§ England at war with Spain
345 John Aspley, Speculum Nauticum
347 John Huise, Perfect Survey of the English
1247 Nathaniel De Lawne, Elements of Logic
1625
§ Death of James I
§ Over 97,800 OED headwords were used in Early Modern English from 1475 to 1625
§ Reign of Charles I (-1649)
723 Samuel Purchas, Purchas his Pilgrims
1430 John Minsheu, Ductor in Linguas
923 D. Gordon, Pharmaco-pinax
1626
351 John Dodderidge, Glossary of Proper First Names
1627
362 John Smith, A Sea Grammar
1632
366 William Watts, The Swedish Intelligencer
1633
371 Thomas Johnson, The Herbal or General History of Plants
1634
378 William Wood, New Englands Prospect
1635
380 Gerhard Mercator, Historia Mundi; or Mercator’s Atlas
1636
1433 Alexander Read, A Treatise of the Muscles of the Whole Body
1639
1397 Company of Distillers of London, The Distiller of London
1641
1286 John Bullokar, An English Expositor
1642
407 Henry More, Psychodia Platonica
386 William Ames, The Marrow of Sacred Divinity
1644
412 Anonymous, Vindex Anglicus or the Perfections of the English Language
411 Richard Symons, Cornish-English Glossary (ca. 1644 – ca. 1645)
1645
414 Thomas Urquhart, The Trissotetras
415 Nicholas Stone, Enchiridion of Fortification
1646
417 Richard Boothby, A Brief Discovery or Description of the Most Famous Island of Madagascar
1647
426 Henry Hexham, A Copious English and Netherdutch Dictionary Composed out of our Best English Authors
1650
437 Michael Sendivogius, A Chemical Dictionary
1652
450 Robert Pemell, Tractatus de Simplicium Medicamentorum Facultatibus
848 Anonymous, A New Model or the Conversion of the Infidel Terms of the Law
423 Alexander Grosse, A Fiery Pillar of Heavenly Truth
429 Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician
1653
453 François Pierre de La Varenne, The French Cook
1655
470 Lazare Rivière, The Practice of Physic
473 William Bagwell, The Mystery of Astronomy
1656
869 Peter Heylyn, Observations on the History of the Reign of King Charles
478 Thomas Blount, Glossographia or a Dictionary
477 Anonymous, The Academy of Pleasure
486 Roger Dodsworth, Villare Anglicum
1657
489 John Garfield, A Physical Dictionary
1399 Oswald Croll, Philosophy Reformed and Improved
494 Joshua Poole, The English Parnassus
487 John Sergeant, The Mystery of Rhetoric Unveiled
1658
497 Edward Phillips, The New World of English Words
1659
506 John Tanner, The Hidden Treasures of the Art of Physic
1662
635 John Heydon, English Physician’s Guide or the Holy Guide
1668
523 John Wilkins, An Essay towards a Real Character and a Philosophical Language
1669
741 John Worlidge, Systema Agriculturae
618 Pamphilus Hesychius, The History of Moderation
1670
1404 John Pettus, Fodinae Regales
1672
536 John Aubrey, Hard Words in Music
1673
542 Richard Head, The Canting Academy
544 John Ogilby, Asia, the First Part
1674
747 Elisha Coles, The Complete English Schoolmaster
545 John Ray, A Collection of English Words not Generally Used
749 Henry Preston, Brief Directions for True Spelling
1677
1238 William Lucas, A Catalogue of Seeds, Plants
561 Joseph Moxon, Mechanic Exercises
555 Elisha Coles, An English Dictionary
1679
844 James Moxon, Mathematical Dictionary
1680
1398 S. G., The Royal Charter of Confirmation Granted by King Charles II to the City of London
1681
570 Thomas Houghton, Rara Avis in Terris or the Complete Miner
1683
1392 William Salmon, Doron Medicum: Supplement to the New London Dispensatory
575 Lazarus Ercker, Fleta Minor the Laws of Art and Nature in Knowing, Judging, Assaying, Fining, Refining and Enlarging the Bodies of Confined Metal
561 Joseph Moxon, Mechanick Exercises: Or, the Doctrine of Handy-works
1684
826 Thomas Willis, Dr. Willis’s Practice of Physic
316 Henry Spelman, Of the Original of Terms or Law-days
577 Steven Blankaart, A Physical Dictionary
1685
767 George Meriton, The Praise of Yorkshire Ale
1686
865 William Aglionby, Painting Illustrated in Three Dialogues
1688
825 Thomas Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia
588 Reginald Pecock, A Treatise Proving Scripture to Be the Rule of Faith
1689
680 Richard Hogarth, Gazophylacium Anglicanum
591 Richard Cox, Hibernia Anglicana
1690
595 Mary Evelyn, Mundus Mulierbris: or, The Ladies’ Dressing-room Unlocked
1406 Anonymous, A Clavis to the Foregoing Dialogue
1691
1220 John Ray, A Collection of English Words not Generally Used
596 Anonymous, Mundus Foppensis or the Fop Displayed
1692
827 Vitruvius, An Abridgment of the Architecture of Vitruvius
1693
604 Jean de La Quintinie, The Complete Gardener
605 James Wallace, A Description of the Isles of Orkney
1208 Edmund Bohun, A Geographical Dictionary
1695
612 John Narbrough, The Mariner’s Jewel
684 White Kennett, Parochial Antiquities
1696
1402 Eustache Le Noble, Abra-Mulè or a True History of the Dethronement of Mahomet IV
1401 Jacques de Solleysel, The Parfait Mareschal or Compleat Farrier
1698
828 Publius Cornelius Tacitus, The Annals and History of Cornelius Tacitus
832 Thomas Hearne, Ductor Historicus or a Short System of Universal History
1699
614 Edward Hatton, The Merchant’s Magazine Dictionary of Merchandise and Trade
617 B. E., A New Dictionary of the Terms Ancient and Modern of the Canting Crew
1702
834 John Kersey the younger, A New English Dictionary
1706
1383 John Davis, Vocabulary of the Massachusetts (or Natick) Indian Language
1710
1306 Henry Kelsey, A Dictionary of the Hudson’s Bay Indian Language
1719
1376 John Aubrey, The Natural History and Antiquities of the County of Surrey
1720
1354 Allan Ramsay, Allan Ramsay’s Poems
1726
1316 Nathan Bailey, An Introduction to the English Tongue
1735
1326 Benjamin Norton Defoe, A New English Dictionary
1737
1349 Nathan Bailey, Universal Etymological English Dictionary
1746
1352 John Collier, A View of the Lancashire Dialect
1747
1351 Josiah Relph, A Miscellany of Poems
1752
1755
1345 Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language
1378 Mary Johnson, Madam Johnson’s Present
1346 Joseph Nicol Scott, A New Universal Etymological English Dictionary