The Diary by Samuel Pepys (children's ebooks online TXT) π
Description
Pepysβ Diary is an incredibly frank decade-long snapshot of the life of an up and coming naval administrator in mid-17th century London. In it he describes everything from battles against the Dutch and the intrigues of court, down to the plays he saw, his marital infidelities, and the quality of the meat provided for his supper. His observations have proved invaluable in establishing an accurate record of the daily life of the people of London of that period.
Pepys eventually stopped writing his diary due to progressively worse eyesight, a condition he feared. He did consider employing an amanuensis to transcribe future entries for him, but worried that the content he wanted written would be too personal. Luckily for Pepys, his eyesight difficulties never progressed to blindness and he was able to go on to become both a Member of Parliament and the President of the Royal Society.
After Pepysβ death he left his large library of books and manuscripts first to his nephew, which was then passed on to Magdalene College, Cambridge, where it survives to this day. The diary, originally written in a shorthand, was included in this trove and was eventually deciphered in the early 19th century, and published by Lord Baybrooke in 1825. This early release censored large amounts of the text, and it was only in the 1970s that an uncensored version was published. Presented here is the 1893 edition, which restores the majority of the originally censored content but omits βa few passages which cannot possibly be printed.β The rich collection of endnotes serve to further illustrate the lives of the people Pepys meets and the state of Englandβs internal politics and international relations at the time.
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- Author: Samuel Pepys
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By Samuel Pepys.
Table of Contents Titlepage Imprint Preface Particulars of the Life of Samuel Pepys The Diary of Samuel Pepys January 1659β60 February 1659β60 March 1659β60 April 1660 May 1660 June 1660 July 1660 August 1660 September 1660 October 1660 November 1660 December 1660 January 1660β61 February 1660β61 March 1660β61 April 1661 May 1661 June 1661 July 1661 August 1661 September 1661 October 1661 November 1661 December 1661 January 1661β62 February 1661β62 March 1661β62 April 1662 May 1662 June 1662 July 1662 August 1662 September 1662 October 1662 November 1662 December 1662 January 1662β63 February 1662β63 March 1662β63 April 1663 May 1663 June 1663 July 1663 August 1663 September 1663 October 1663 November 1663 December 1663 January 1663β64 February 1663β64 March 1663β64 April 1664 May 1664 June 1664 July 1664 August 1664 September 1664 October 1664 November 1664 December 1664 January 1664β65 February 1664β65 March 1664β65 April 1665 May 1665 June 1665 July 1665 August 1665 September 1665 October 1665 November 1665 December 1665 January 1665β66 February 1665β66 March 1665β66 April 1666 May 1666 June 1666 July 1666 August 1666 September 1666 October 1666 November 1666 December 1666 January 1666β67 February 1666β67 March 1666β67 April 1667 May 1667 June 1667 July 1667 August 1667 September 1667 October 1667 November 1667 December 1667 January 1667β68 February 1667β68 March 1667β68 April 1668 May 1668 June 1668 July 1668 August 1668 September 1668 October 1668 November 1668 December 1668 January 1668β69 February 1668β69 March 1668β69 April 1669 May 1669 Afterword Endnotes List of Illustrations Colophon Uncopyright ImprintThis ebook is the product of many hours of hard work by volunteers for Standard Ebooks, and builds on the hard work of other literature lovers made possible by the public domain.
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PrefaceAlthough 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: βthere 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.β
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. Brightβs preface which suggested a doubt respecting the necessary completeness. He wrote: βIt would have been tedious to the reader if I had copied from the Diary the account of his daily work at the office.β
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 βthe cipher employed by him greatly resembles that known by the name of βRichβs system.βββ When Mr. Bright came to decipher the MS., he discovered that the shorthand system used by Pepys was an earlier one than Richβs, viz., that of Thomas Shelton, who made his system public in 1620.1
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 subeditor of Notes and Queries. Where these notes are left unaltered in the present edition the letter βB.β 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
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