1538 in literature

Template:Short description Template:Year nav topic5 Template:Use British English This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1538.

Events

• December 20 – Pietro Bembo is made a Cardinal.

New books

Prose

• Hélisenne de Crenne – Les Angoisses douloureuses qui procèdent d'amours
• Sir Thomas Elyot – The dictionary of syr Thomas Eliot knyght (Latin to English)
• Paracelsus – Astronomia Magna or the whole Philosophia Sagax of the Great and Little World
• William Turner – Libellus de re herbaria (Handbook of Herbs)

Drama

• John Bale
  • Kynge Johan, the earliest known English historical drama (in verse)
  • Three Laws of Nature, Moses and Christ, corrupted by the Sodomytes, Pharisees and Papystes most wicked
• Georg Wickram – Der treue Eckart<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Poetry

• Sir David Lyndsay – The Complaynte and Testament of a Popinjay<ref name=cocel>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Clément Marot – Œuvres de Clément Marot

Births

• December 10 – Giovanni Battista Guarini, Italian poet, dramatist and diplomat (died 1612)<ref>Template:Cite NIE</ref>

Deaths

• unknown dates
  • Germain de Brie, French humanist scholar and poet (born 1490)
  • Pierre Gringoire, French poet and playwright (born c.1475)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>