Jean Vauquelin de La Fresnaye, Discours pour servir de Préface sur le Sujet de la Satyre ("Discourse Serving as a Preface on the Subject of Satire") published from this year through 1605
June 24 – Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (born 1550), English courtier, playwright, poet, sportsman, patron of numerous writers, and sponsor of at least two acting companies
October 8 – Janus Dousa (born 1545), Dutch statesman, historian, poet and philologist