A Literary Timeline
which should give us some perspective
An ongoing project
William Shakespeare
He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist.
- Richard III (1592–1593)
- Richard II (1595)
- Romeo and Juliet (1595)
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (1595)
- The Merchant of Venice (1596–1597)
- Henry IV, Part 1 (1596–1597)
- Henry IV, Part 2 (1597–1598)
- Henry V (1599)
- Julius Caesar (1599)
- As You Like It (1599–1600)
- Hamlet (1599–1601)
- Twelfth Night (1601)
- Measure for Measure (1603–1604)
- Othello (1603–1604)
- King Lear (1605–1606)
- Macbeth (1606)
- Antony and Cleopatra (1606)
- Coriolanus (1608)
- The Winter's Tale (1609–1611)
- The Sonnets (1609)
- The Tempest (1610–1611)
Herman Melville
An American novelist, short story writer, and poet. He went to sea in 1839 as an ordinary sailor in the merchant navy. Later he worked on the whaler Acushnet. He jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands, and eventually returned home to write up his adventures.
- Typee (1846)
- Moby-Dick (1851)
- Bartleby the Scrivener (1853)
- Billy Budd, Sailor (1891)
Christopher Marlowe
Marlowe is one of the most famous Elizabethan playwrights after Shakespeare. Many think that he was one of Walsingham's spies. His murder in a house in Deptford (not a tavern) in May 1593 might have been assassination.
- Tamburlaine (c1587)
- The Jew of Malta (c1589)
- Doctor Faustus (c1588–1592)
- Edward II (c1592)
Charles Dickens
Dickens was born in Portsmouth. He left school at the age of 12 to work in a boot-blacking factory.When a young man he began his career as a journalist. He wrote 15 novels, and hundreds of short stories. His is one of the most prolific and enduringly popular authors of the Victorian period.
- The Pickwick Papers (1836-1837)
- Oliver Twist (1837-1839)
- Nicholas Nickleby (1838-1839)
- A Christmas Carol (1843)
- Martin Chuzzlewit (1843-1844)
- David Copperfield (1849-1850)
- Bleak House (1852-1853)
- Hard Times (1854-1854)
- A Tale of Two Cities (1859-1859)
- Great Expectations (1860-1861)
- Edwin Drood (1870- unfinished)
Not viewable on mobile
Charles Dickens
1812 - 1870
Dickens was born in Portsmouth. He left school at the age of 12 to work in a boot-blacking factory.When a young man he began his career as a journalist. He wrote 15 novels, and hundreds of short stories. His is one of the most prolific and enduringly popular of the Victorian period.
Famous for...
- The Pickwick Papers (1836-1837)
- Oliver Twist (1837-1839)
- Nicholas Nickleby (1838-1839)
- A Christmas Carol (1843)
- Martin Chuzzlewit (1843-1844)
- David Copperfield (1849-1850)
- Bleak House (1852-1853)
- Hard Times (1854-1854)
- A Tale of Two Cities (1859-1859)
- Great Expectations (1860-1861)
- Edwin Drood (1870- unfinished)
Not viewable on mobile
Herman Melville
1819 - 1891
An American novelist, short story writer, and poet. He went to sea in 1839 as an ordinary sailor in the merchant navy. Later he worked on the whaler Acushnet. He jumped ship in the Marquesas Islands, and eventually returned home to write up his adventures.
Famous for...
- Typee (1846)
- Moby-Dick (1851)
- Billy Budd, Sailor (1891)