1685 in literature

• February – The death of King Charles II of England brings a major theatrical flop in the Restoration era: Albion and Albanius – an allegorical drama in praise of the king with a text by John Dryden and music by Louis Grabu – is in rehearsal at the time.[1]
• June – A revised version of Albion and Albanius fails largely because it coincides with the invasion of the Duke of Monmouth.[2]
• June – Parliament revives the Printing Act of 1662, limiting London printers.[3]

Uncertain dates

• Antoine Furetière is expelled from the Académie française for proposing to publish a complete dictionary of the French language himself.
• The Fourth Folio of Shakespeare's works is published in London.

• January 9 – Tiberius Hemsterhuis, Dutch critic (died 1766)
• March 12 – George Berkeley Irish philosopher and bishop (died 1753)
• June 30 – John Gay, English poet and dramatist (died 1732)

• March 18 – Francis Harold, Irish Franciscan historian (year of birth not known)
• c. April 14 – Thomas Otway, English dramatist (born 1652)
• April 29 – Luc d'Achery, French author of critical editions of medieval manuscripts (born 1609)
• June 16 – Anne Killigrew, English poet and painter (born 1660)
• June 17 – Andrew Allam, English historian (born 1655)
• July 1 – Nalan Xingde, Chinese ci poet (born 1655)
• October 23 – Yamaga Sokō (山鹿 素行), Japanese philosopher (born 1622)

Uncertain dates

• Jean Cabassut, French theologian (born 1604)
• Placido Puccinelli, Italian historian (born 1609)

• R. D. Blackmore's novel Lorna Doone (1869) and Arthur Conan Doyle's Micah Clarke (1889) are set during the Monmouth Rebellion in England.