Samuel Pepys - Diary of Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys

e-artnow, 2020

Contact: info@e-artnow.org

EAN 4064066058845

PREFACE

JANUARY 1659–1660

FEBRUARY 1659–1660

MARCH 1659–1660

APRIL 1660

MAY 1660

JUNE 1660

JULY 1660

July 1st. This morning came home my fine Camlett cloak,

AUGUST 1660

SEPTEMBER 1660

OCTOBER 1660

NOVEMBER 1660

DECEMBER 1660

JANUARY 1660–1661

FEBRUARY 1660–61

MARCH 1660–1661

APRIL 1661

MAY 1661

JUNE 1661

JULY 1661

AUGUST 1661

SEPTEMBER 1661

OCTOBER 1661

NOVEMBER 1661

DECEMBER 1661

JANUARY 1661–1662

FEBRUARY 1661–1662

MARCH 1661–1662

APRIL 1662

MAY 1662

JUNE 1662

JULY 1662

AUGUST 1662

SEPTEMBER 1662

OCTOBER 1662

NOVEMBER 1662

DECEMBER 1662

JANUARY 1662–1663

FEBRUARY 1662–1663

MARCH 1662–1663

APRIL 1663

MAY 1663

JUNE 1663

JULY 1663

AUGUST 1663

SEPTEMBER 1663

OCTOBER 1663

NOVEMBER 1663

DECEMBER 1663

JANUARY 1663–1664

FEBRUARY 1663–1664

MARCH 1663–1664

APRIL 1664

MAY 1664

JUNE 1664

JULY 1664

AUGUST 1664

SEPTEMBER 1664

OCTOBER 1664

NOVEMBER 1664

DECEMBER 1664

JANUARY 1664–1665

FEBRUARY 1664–1665

MARCH 1664–1665

APRIL 1665

MAY 1665

JUNE 1665

JULY 1665

AUGUST 1665

SEPTEMBER 1665

OCTOBER 1665

NOVEMBER 1665

DECEMBER 1665

JANUARY 1665–1666

FEBRUARY 1665–1666

MARCH 1665–1666

APRIL 1666

MAY 1666

JUNE 1666

JULY 1666

AUGUST 1666

SEPTEMBER 1666

OCTOBER 1666

NOVEMBER 1666

DECEMBER 1666

JANUARY 1666–1667

FEBRUARY 1666–1667

MARCH 1666–1667

APRIL 1667

MAY 1667

JUNE 1667

JULY 1667

AUGUST 1667

SEPTEMBER 1667

OCTOBER 1667

NOVEMBER 1667

DECEMBER 1667

JANUARY 1667–1668

FEBRUARY 1667–1668

MARCH 1667–1668

APRIL 1668

MAY 1668

JUNE 1668

JULY 1668

AUGUST 1668

SEPTEMBER 1668

OCTOBER 1668

NOVEMBER 1668

DECEMBER 1668

JANUARY 1668–1669

FEBRUARY 1668–1669

MARCH 1668–1669

APRIL 1669

MAY 1669

Table of Contents

Although the Diary of Samuel Pepys has been in the hands of the public for nearly seventy years, it has not hitherto appeared in its entirety. In the original edition of 1825 scarcely half of the manuscript was printed. Lord Braybrooke added some passages as the various editions were published, but in the preface to his last edition he wrote: “there appeared indeed no necessity to amplify or in any way to alter the text of the Diary beyond the correction of a few verbal errors and corrupt passages hitherto overlooked.”

The public knew nothing as to what was left unprinted, and there was therefore a general feeling of gratification when it was announced some eighteen years ago that a new edition was to be published by the Rev. Mynors Bright, with the addition of new matter equal to a third of the whole. It was understood that at last the Diary was to appear in its entirety, but there was a passage in Mr. Bright’s preface which suggested a doubt respecting the necessary completeness. He wrote: “It would have been tedious to the reader if I had copied from the Diary the account of his daily work at the office.”

As a matter of fact, Mr. Bright left roughly speaking about one-fifth of the whole Diary still unprinted, although he transcribed the whole, and bequeathed his transcript to Magdalene College.

It has now been decided that the whole of the Diary shall be made public, with the exception of a few passages which cannot possibly be printed. It may be thought by some that these omissions are due to an unnecessary squeamishness, but it is not really so, and readers are therefore asked to have faith in the judgment of the editor. Where any passages have been omitted marks of omission are added, so that in all cases readers will know where anything has been left out.

Lord Braybrooke made the remark in his “Life of Pepys,” that “the cipher employed by him greatly resembles that known by the name of ‘Rich’s system.’ ” When Mr. Bright came to decipher the MS., he discovered that the shorthand system used by Pepys was an earlier one than Rich’s, viz., that of Thomas Shelton, who made his system public in 1620.

In his various editions Lord Braybrooke gave a large number of valuable notes, in the collection and arrangement of which he was assisted by the late Mr. John Holmes of the British Museum, and the late Mr. James Yeowell, sometime sub-editor of “Notes and Queries.” Where these notes are left unaltered in the present edition the letter “B.” has been affixed to them, but in many instances the notes have been altered and added to from later information, and in these cases no mark is affixed. A large number of additional notes are now supplied, but still much has had to be left unexplained. Many persons are mentioned in the Diary who were little known in the outer world, and in some instances it has been impossible to identify them. In other cases, however, it has been possible to throw light upon these persons by reference to different portions of the Diary itself. I would here ask the kind assistance of any reader who is able to illustrate passages that have been left unnoted. I have received much assistance from the various books in which the Diary is quoted. Every writer on the period covered by the Diary has been pleased to illustrate his subject by quotations from Pepys, and from these books it has often been possible to find information which helps to explain difficult passages in the Diary.

Much illustrative matter of value was obtained by Lord Braybrooke from the “Diurnall” of Thomas Rugge, which is preserved in the British Museum (Add. MSS. 10,116, 10,117). The following is the description of this interesting work as given by Lord Braybrooke

“MERCURIUS POLITICUS REDIVIVUS;

or, A Collection of the most materiall occurrances and transactions

in Public Affairs since Anno Dni, 1659, untill

28 March, 1672,

serving as an annuall diurnall for future satisfaction and

information,

BY THOMAS RUGGE.

Est natura hominum novitatis avida.—Plinius.

“This MS. belonged, in 1693, to Thomas Grey, second Earl of

Stamford. It has his autograph at the commencement, and on the

sides are his arms (four quarterings) in gold. In 1819, it was sold

by auction in London, as part of the collection of Thomas Lloyd,

Esq. (No. 1465), and was then bought by Thomas Thorpe, bookseller.

Whilst Mr. Lloyd was the possessor, the MS. was lent to Dr. Lingard,

whose note of thanks to Mr. Lloyd is preserved in the volume. From

Thorpe it appears to have passed to Mr. Heber, at the sale of whose

MSS. in Feb. 1836, by Mr. Evans, of Pall Mall, it was purchased by

the British Museum for £8 8s.

“Thomas Rugge was descended from an ancient Norfolk family, and two

of his ancestors are described as Aldermen of Norwich. His death

has been ascertained to have occurred about 1672; and in the Diary

for the preceding year he complains that on account of his declining

health, his entries will be but few. Nothing has been traced of his

personal circumstances beyond the fact of his having lived for

fourteen years in Covent Garden, then a fashionable locality.”

Another work I have found of the greatest value is the late Mr. J. E. Doyle’s “Official Baronage of England” (1886), which contains a mass of valuable information not easily to be obtained elsewhere. By reference to its pages I have been enabled to correct several erroneous dates in previous notes caused by a very natural confusion of years in the case of the months of January, February, and March, before it was finally fixed that the year should commence in January instead of March. More confusion has probably been introduced into history from this than from any other cause of a like nature. The reference to two years, as in the case of, say, Jan. 5, 1661–62, may appear clumsy, but it is the only safe plan of notation. If one year only is mentioned, the reader is never sure whether or not the correction has been made. It is a matter for sincere regret that the popular support was withheld from Mr. Doyle’s important undertaking, so that the author’s intention of publishing further volumes, containing the Baronies not dealt with in those already published, was frustrated.