Difference between revisions of "User:Chavey/Ancient"

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== Ancient Works of Speculative Fiction ==
  
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This is an attempt to catalog the oldest works of speculative fiction, using ISFDB listings, the "standard" bibliographic sources, WorldCat, and a few other resources. This includes only fiction: It does not include essays, non-fiction, or art. With many of the older works, dates given are best available estimates, and are not claimed to be precise.
 +
 +
I have attempted to identify bibliographic works that include significant numbers of such ancient works, including those already in the ISFDB, and incorporated them into this listing. This listing includes all works in the following sources, up to the date listed:
 +
 +
<ul><li>Current ISFDB listings (through 1600 so far);
 +
<li>Bleiler's "[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1280738 Science-Fiction: The Early Years]" (through 1600 so far).
 +
<li>Gunn's "[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1088180 The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]" (not started yet)
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<li>Nicholson's "[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?932284 Voyages to the Moon]" (not started yet)
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<li>Pringle's "[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?877414 The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy]" (not started yet)
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</ul>
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=== 700 B.C.E. to 1000 A.D. ===
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{|border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" bgcolor="#FFFFD0"
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|-
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| <b>&nbsp; Year &nbsp;</b> &nbsp;
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| <b>Title</b>
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| <b>Author</b>
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| <b>Notes</b>, e.g. on the speculative fiction content
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|-
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|-
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| 700&nbsp;B.C.
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?739745 The Odyssey]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?20200 Homer]
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| Circe (the witch), Cyclops, Sirens, various monstrous beings, and a magic bag containing 3 of the 4 winds.
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|-
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|-
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| 440&nbsp;B.C.
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?122930 The Amazons]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?24159 Herodotus]
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| The earliest form of the Amazon legends, and an important precursor for speculative fiction. Academics argue as to whether Herodotus thought he was writing "history" or knew that he was writing fiction. We classify this as a non-fiction essay.
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|-
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|-
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| 380&nbsp;B.C.
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1085760 The Republic]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?15088 Plato]
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| Utopian fiction, and very influential on later Utopian works. (Bleiler)
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|-
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|-
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| 360 B.C.
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1085757 Timaeus]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?15088 Plato]
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| First known mention of Atlantis. Main story postponed to Critias. (Bleiler)
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|-
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|-
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| 350 B.C.
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1085759 Critias]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?15088 Plato]
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| Includes the story of Atlantis. (Bleiler)
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|-
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|-
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| 8 A.D.
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1450242 Metamorphoses]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?19918 Ovid]
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| Transformation tales. Many Roman myths, which are not generally genre for us. Includes Daedalus &amp; Icarus.
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|-
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|-
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| 75
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1205652 Life of Lycurgus]<BR>Non-genre
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?147481 Plutarch]
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| Included in "Ideal Commonwealths", which has several Utopian works, but this is not a speculative fiction utopian work. It is intended as a historical essay about the early Spartan society, which the author views as having been a utopia in its earliest forms. Bleiler (#1556, p. 521) says this "is not relevant to us".
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|-
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|-
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| 170
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| The True History
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?2067 Lucian of Samosata]
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| Women who are part vines. Three-headed vultures. Monstrous sea creatures. Most importantly (for us), a trip to the moon, and many oddities of the people of the moon, and a war between the kingdoms of the Moon, Sun, and Venus. (Bleiler)
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|-
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|-
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| 175
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| Icaromenippus, an Aerial Expedition
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?2067 Lucian of Samosata]
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| A flight to the moon, and to the Greek heaven. (Bleiler)
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|-
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|}
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=== 1000 A.D. to 1500 A.D. ===
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{|border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" bgcolor="#FFFFD0"
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|-
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| 1070
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1499136 Katha Sarit Sagara]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?180022 Somadeva Bhatta]
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| An early Indian collection of stories, including "Twenty-five tales of a demon", the demon being a vampire. By legend, at least, this is a descendent of a more ancient work, the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brhat-katha Brihatkatha], c. 500 A.D. This older work does not (as best as we can tell) include the vampire stories, but it does include the acquisition by Naravāhanadatta of various magical powers from the Vedic gods, which might make it borderline SF, although we do not include it separately here.
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|-
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|-
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| 1070
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1499495 The Founding of the City of Páṭalíputra]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?180022 Somadeva Bhatta] and [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?180051 C. H. Tawney]
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| This is a translation, or re-telling, of one of the main stories from the Katha Sarit Sagara, and hence we list it with the date of the original story. The story focuses on three magical items: shoes of flight; a stick of truth; and a vessel of unending food. Using these, the hero is able to wake a version of "Sleeping Beauty" and create the city of the title.
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|-
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|-
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| 1320
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1365774 The Divine Comedy]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?137127 Dante Alighieri ]
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| "On the surface, the poem describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven; but at a deeper level, it represents allegorically the soul's journey towards God." (Wikipedia) Only the "surface" level qualifies this work for inclusion here. The earliest extant manuscript versions are from the 1330's.
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|-
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|-
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| 1358
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| The Decameron
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?127910 Giovanni Boccaccio]
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| Written between 1348 and 1358 (i.e., completed in 1358) revised 1370-1371. Contains 100 stories, a few of which are speculative fiction. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summary_of_Decameron_tales These stories] are listed below, with links when we have them listed as separate titles. These don't have titles in the original collection, but are known by day (1 to 10) and which tale of that day (1 to 10).
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|-
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|-
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| &nbsp;
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| colspan="3" | <ul><li>4th day, tale 5. Now known as [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1221851 A Story of Ravenna]. A female ghost is cursed to be hunted down, killed, and devoured by a pack of hounds every week. (Ashley/Contento)
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<li>5th day, tale 8. See [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?109454 Isabella, or The Pot of Basil] A ghost of her lover appears to Lisabetta in a dream, and tells here where his body is.
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<li>7th day, tale 10. A man dies having promised his comrade to return to him from the other world; which he does, and tells him what sort of life is led there.
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<li>9th day, tale 10. Dom Gianni uses an enchantment to transform another man's wife into a mare;
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<li>10th day, tale 4. Messer Gentile de' Carisendi disinters a lady that he loves, who has been buried for dead. She, being reanimated, gives birth to a male child; and Messer Gentile restores her to her husband.
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<li>10th day, tale 5. Madonna Dianora craves of Messer Ansaldo a garden that shall be as fair in January as in May Messer Ansaldo binds himself to a necromancer, and thereby gives her the garden.
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<li>10th day, tale 9. Messer Torello is captured by Saladin while on a crusade, falls sick, and by magic arts is transported in a single night back to Italy.
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<li><em>5th day, tale 1.</em> (Non-genre) Ashley/Contento also include in their list of supernatural works "[http://thebestshortstories.wordpress.com/2010/03/24/cymon-and-iphigenia/ The Story of Cymon and Iphigenia]", from the Decameron, but I see nothing supernatural about that story (aside from love turning "a hopeless imbecile" into a wise and fashionable man).
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</ul>
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|-
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|-
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| 1387
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| The Canterbury Tales
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?107557 Geoffrey Chaucer ]
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| We have multiple stories from ''The Canterbury Tales'' listed in the ISFDB, mostly non-genre, but included because of their existence in various anthologies. The stories we have are listed below:
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|-
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|-
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| &nbsp;
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| colspan="3" | <ul><li>[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1380130 The Nun's Priest's Tale (excerpt)]. A world of talking animals who reflect both human perception and fallacy, which is thus non-genre. Depending on the portion that's extracted, this may also include the ghosts of the next entry.
 +
<li>[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1402651 Murder Will Out] Also an excerpt from "The Nun's Priest's Tale". Apparently including ghosts, hence genre.
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<li>[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?96156 How the Three Young Men Found Death]. Non-genre. Adapted from ''The Pardoner's Tale''. Three men set out to kill Death. An old man tells them how to find Death, and sure enough they each die -- hence "meeting death", albeit with no supernatural elements.
 +
<li>[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1068119 A Compleynte on Deth of Sir William Thatcher, Sumtyme Ycleped Ulrich Von Liechtenstein] Non-genre. A follow-up to "A Knight's Tale", the first tale of ''The Canterbury Tales''. There is nothing supernatural here, and the poem appears not to be by Chaucer but by a modern (anonymous) author writing in Chaucer's style.
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|-
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|-
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| 1390
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1457625 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?176194 The Gawain Poet]
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| A mysterious "Green Knight" challenges any knight to strike him with his axe if he will take a return blow in a year and a day. Gawain accepts and beheads him with his blow, at which the Green Knight stands up, picks up his head and reminds Gawain of the appointed time.
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|-
 +
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|-
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| 1472
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1365774 The Divine Comedy]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?137127 Dante Alighieri]
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| The first printed publication of this work, listed above under the original release date of (about) 1320. We have other publications listed under ''The Inferno'', which is the first portion of ''The Divine Comedy''.
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|-
 +
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|-
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| 1484
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1450242 Metamorphoses]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?19918 Ovid]
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| The first printed publication of this work, listed above under the original release date of 8 A.D. In 1484, both French and English printed versions were released.
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|-
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|-
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| 1485
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?977941 Le Morte d'Arthur]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?31657 Sir Thomas Malory]
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| The oldest extant version of the King Arthur stories.
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|-
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|-
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| 1488
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?739745 The Odyssey]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?20200 Homer]
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| The first print publication of this work. The manuscript version is listed above under 440 B.C.
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|-
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|-
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| 1494
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1560890 Daß Narrenschyff ad Narragoniam]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?104765 Sebastian Brant]
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| In English, called "The Ship of Fools". Speculative fiction contents unknown to us.
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|-
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|}
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=== 1500 A.D. to 1600 A.D. ===
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{|border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" bgcolor="#FFFFD0"
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|-
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| 1508
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1388914 Amadís de Gaula]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?169779 Garcí Rodríguez de Montalvo ]
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| Arthurian-style novel of chivalry and the ideal knight. Speculative elements include giants, a sorcerer and sorceress. Amadís is the knight that Don Quixote tries to imitate.
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|-
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|-
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| 1509
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1388915 Las Sergas de Esplandián]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?169779 Garcí Rodríguez de Montalvo]
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| Continuation of the 4 books of Amadís de Gaula. Includes a description of an island in the Pacific named "California" populated exclusively by a race of black Amazon women. The current state of California is named after that imaginary location.
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|-
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|-
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| 1516
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?21937 Utopia: or, The Happy Republic, A Philosophical Romance]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?1150 Sir Thomas More]
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| Classic utopian fiction.
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|-
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|-
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| 1516-1532
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?903819 Orlando Furioso]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?3843 Ludovico Ariosto]
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| The first version appeared in 1516, with a second edition containing minor changes in 1521, and a final expanded version in 1532. Includes fantastical and magical elements such as a trip to the moon, and fantastical creatures including a hippogriff and a gigantic sea monster called an orc.
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|-
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|-
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| 1516
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?903819 The Palace of Illusions]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?3843 Ludovico Ariosto]
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| An extract from "Orlando Furioso".
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|-
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|-
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| 1549
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1221614 Belphagor, Or the Marriage of the Devil]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?149331 Niccolò Machiavelli ]
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| Contents not known to us.
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|-
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|-
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| 1567
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| Palmerin d’Angleterre
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?114709 Francisco de Moraes]
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| A spin-off of the "Amadís de Gaula" listed under 1508. Two stories from this work are included in the ISFDB:
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|-
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|-
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| &nbsp;
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| colspan="3" |
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<ul><li>[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?903749 The Magical Palace of Darkness]
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<li>[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1075101 The Enchantment of Lionarda]</ul>
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|-
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|-
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| 1570
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1151947 Beware the Cat]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?135284 William Baldwin]
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| These stories feature an Irish werewolf, the Grimalkin, and an underworld society of talking cats, among several other horror and magical/supernatural elements such as an ancient book of forbidden lore and magic potions.
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|-
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|-
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| 1584
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1061602 Flyting Against Polwart]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?129607 Alexander Montgomerie]
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| Elfland, fairies
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|-
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|-
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| 1590
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?395631 Monkey]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?63701 Wu Ch'êng-ên]
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| Monsters, anthropomorphic animals (who interact with humans), a half pig/half human.
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|-
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|-
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| 1590
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?997112 The Faerie Queene]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?114708 Edmund Spenser]
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| This extended epic poem deals with the adventures of knights, dragons, ladies in distress, etc. yet it is also an extended allegory about the moral life and what makes for a life of virtue. The first three books were published in 1590; the second three in 1596.
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|-
 +
 +
|-
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| 1596
 +
| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?997112 The Faerie Queene]
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?114708 Edmund Spenser]
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| The last three volumes of the full 6-volume set; see 1590.
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|-
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 +
|}
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 +
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=== 1600 A.D. to 1700 A.D. ===
 +
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{|border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="3" bgcolor="#FFFFD0"
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|-
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| 1600
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| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?1426602 A Midsummer Night's Dream]
 +
| [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?22499 William Shakespeare]
 +
| Fairies, Fairyland, and a magical love potion.
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|-
 +
 +
|}

Revision as of 23:00, 15 March 2013

Ancient Works of Speculative Fiction

This is an attempt to catalog the oldest works of speculative fiction, using ISFDB listings, the "standard" bibliographic sources, WorldCat, and a few other resources. This includes only fiction: It does not include essays, non-fiction, or art. With many of the older works, dates given are best available estimates, and are not claimed to be precise.

I have attempted to identify bibliographic works that include significant numbers of such ancient works, including those already in the ISFDB, and incorporated them into this listing. This listing includes all works in the following sources, up to the date listed:


700 B.C.E. to 1000 A.D.

  Year     Title Author Notes, e.g. on the speculative fiction content
700 B.C. The Odyssey Homer Circe (the witch), Cyclops, Sirens, various monstrous beings, and a magic bag containing 3 of the 4 winds.
440 B.C. The Amazons Herodotus The earliest form of the Amazon legends, and an important precursor for speculative fiction. Academics argue as to whether Herodotus thought he was writing "history" or knew that he was writing fiction. We classify this as a non-fiction essay.
380 B.C. The Republic Plato Utopian fiction, and very influential on later Utopian works. (Bleiler)
360 B.C. Timaeus Plato First known mention of Atlantis. Main story postponed to Critias. (Bleiler)
350 B.C. Critias Plato Includes the story of Atlantis. (Bleiler)
8 A.D. Metamorphoses Ovid Transformation tales. Many Roman myths, which are not generally genre for us. Includes Daedalus & Icarus.
75 Life of Lycurgus
Non-genre 		Plutarch Included in "Ideal Commonwealths", which has several Utopian works, but this is not a speculative fiction utopian work. It is intended as a historical essay about the early Spartan society, which the author views as having been a utopia in its earliest forms. Bleiler (#1556, p. 521) says this "is not relevant to us".
170 The True History Lucian of Samosata Women who are part vines. Three-headed vultures. Monstrous sea creatures. Most importantly (for us), a trip to the moon, and many oddities of the people of the moon, and a war between the kingdoms of the Moon, Sun, and Venus. (Bleiler)
175 Icaromenippus, an Aerial Expedition Lucian of Samosata A flight to the moon, and to the Greek heaven. (Bleiler)


1000 A.D. to 1500 A.D.

1070 Katha Sarit Sagara Somadeva Bhatta An early Indian collection of stories, including "Twenty-five tales of a demon", the demon being a vampire. By legend, at least, this is a descendent of a more ancient work, the Brihatkatha, c. 500 A.D. This older work does not (as best as we can tell) include the vampire stories, but it does include the acquisition by Naravāhanadatta of various magical powers from the Vedic gods, which might make it borderline SF, although we do not include it separately here.
1070 The Founding of the City of Páṭalíputra Somadeva Bhatta and C. H. Tawney This is a translation, or re-telling, of one of the main stories from the Katha Sarit Sagara, and hence we list it with the date of the original story. The story focuses on three magical items: shoes of flight; a stick of truth; and a vessel of unending food. Using these, the hero is able to wake a version of "Sleeping Beauty" and create the city of the title.
1320 The Divine Comedy Dante Alighieri "On the surface, the poem describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven; but at a deeper level, it represents allegorically the soul's journey towards God." (Wikipedia) Only the "surface" level qualifies this work for inclusion here. The earliest extant manuscript versions are from the 1330's.
1358 The Decameron Giovanni Boccaccio Written between 1348 and 1358 (i.e., completed in 1358) revised 1370-1371. Contains 100 stories, a few of which are speculative fiction. These stories are listed below, with links when we have them listed as separate titles. These don't have titles in the original collection, but are known by day (1 to 10) and which tale of that day (1 to 10).
 
  • 4th day, tale 5. Now known as A Story of Ravenna. A female ghost is cursed to be hunted down, killed, and devoured by a pack of hounds every week. (Ashley/Contento)
  • 5th day, tale 8. See Isabella, or The Pot of Basil A ghost of her lover appears to Lisabetta in a dream, and tells here where his body is.
  • 7th day, tale 10. A man dies having promised his comrade to return to him from the other world; which he does, and tells him what sort of life is led there.
  • 9th day, tale 10. Dom Gianni uses an enchantment to transform another man's wife into a mare;
  • 10th day, tale 4. Messer Gentile de' Carisendi disinters a lady that he loves, who has been buried for dead. She, being reanimated, gives birth to a male child; and Messer Gentile restores her to her husband.
  • 10th day, tale 5. Madonna Dianora craves of Messer Ansaldo a garden that shall be as fair in January as in May Messer Ansaldo binds himself to a necromancer, and thereby gives her the garden.
  • 10th day, tale 9. Messer Torello is captured by Saladin while on a crusade, falls sick, and by magic arts is transported in a single night back to Italy.
  • 5th day, tale 1. (Non-genre) Ashley/Contento also include in their list of supernatural works "The Story of Cymon and Iphigenia", from the Decameron, but I see nothing supernatural about that story (aside from love turning "a hopeless imbecile" into a wise and fashionable man).
1387 The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer We have multiple stories from The Canterbury Tales listed in the ISFDB, mostly non-genre, but included because of their existence in various anthologies. The stories we have are listed below:
 
  • The Nun's Priest's Tale (excerpt). A world of talking animals who reflect both human perception and fallacy, which is thus non-genre. Depending on the portion that's extracted, this may also include the ghosts of the next entry.
  • Murder Will Out Also an excerpt from "The Nun's Priest's Tale". Apparently including ghosts, hence genre.
  • How the Three Young Men Found Death. Non-genre. Adapted from The Pardoner's Tale. Three men set out to kill Death. An old man tells them how to find Death, and sure enough they each die -- hence "meeting death", albeit with no supernatural elements.
  • A Compleynte on Deth of Sir William Thatcher, Sumtyme Ycleped Ulrich Von Liechtenstein Non-genre. A follow-up to "A Knight's Tale", the first tale of The Canterbury Tales. There is nothing supernatural here, and the poem appears not to be by Chaucer but by a modern (anonymous) author writing in Chaucer's style.
1390 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight The Gawain Poet A mysterious "Green Knight" challenges any knight to strike him with his axe if he will take a return blow in a year and a day. Gawain accepts and beheads him with his blow, at which the Green Knight stands up, picks up his head and reminds Gawain of the appointed time.
1472 The Divine Comedy Dante Alighieri The first printed publication of this work, listed above under the original release date of (about) 1320. We have other publications listed under The Inferno, which is the first portion of The Divine Comedy.
1484 Metamorphoses Ovid The first printed publication of this work, listed above under the original release date of 8 A.D. In 1484, both French and English printed versions were released.
1485 Le Morte d'Arthur Sir Thomas Malory The oldest extant version of the King Arthur stories.
1488 The Odyssey Homer The first print publication of this work. The manuscript version is listed above under 440 B.C.
1494 Daß Narrenschyff ad Narragoniam Sebastian Brant In English, called "The Ship of Fools". Speculative fiction contents unknown to us.


1500 A.D. to 1600 A.D.

1508 Amadís de Gaula Garcí Rodríguez de Montalvo Arthurian-style novel of chivalry and the ideal knight. Speculative elements include giants, a sorcerer and sorceress. Amadís is the knight that Don Quixote tries to imitate.
1509 Las Sergas de Esplandián Garcí Rodríguez de Montalvo Continuation of the 4 books of Amadís de Gaula. Includes a description of an island in the Pacific named "California" populated exclusively by a race of black Amazon women. The current state of California is named after that imaginary location.
1516 Utopia: or, The Happy Republic, A Philosophical Romance Sir Thomas More Classic utopian fiction.
1516-1532 Orlando Furioso Ludovico Ariosto The first version appeared in 1516, with a second edition containing minor changes in 1521, and a final expanded version in 1532. Includes fantastical and magical elements such as a trip to the moon, and fantastical creatures including a hippogriff and a gigantic sea monster called an orc.
1516 The Palace of Illusions Ludovico Ariosto An extract from "Orlando Furioso".
1549 Belphagor, Or the Marriage of the Devil Niccolò Machiavelli Contents not known to us.
1567 Palmerin d’Angleterre Francisco de Moraes A spin-off of the "Amadís de Gaula" listed under 1508. Two stories from this work are included in the ISFDB:
 
1570 Beware the Cat William Baldwin These stories feature an Irish werewolf, the Grimalkin, and an underworld society of talking cats, among several other horror and magical/supernatural elements such as an ancient book of forbidden lore and magic potions.
1584 Flyting Against Polwart Alexander Montgomerie Elfland, fairies
1590 Monkey Wu Ch'êng-ên Monsters, anthropomorphic animals (who interact with humans), a half pig/half human.
1590 The Faerie Queene Edmund Spenser This extended epic poem deals with the adventures of knights, dragons, ladies in distress, etc. yet it is also an extended allegory about the moral life and what makes for a life of virtue. The first three books were published in 1590; the second three in 1596.
1596 The Faerie Queene Edmund Spenser The last three volumes of the full 6-volume set; see 1590.


1600 A.D. to 1700 A.D.

1600 A Midsummer Night's Dream William Shakespeare Fairies, Fairyland, and a magical love potion.
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