Samuel Pepys

“Strange to see how a good dinner and feasting reconciles everybody.”
―from THE DIARY OF SAMUEL PEPYS

Just released today: A newly edited selection from the most famous, colorful, and vivid diarist in the English language–in the most accessible, uncensored, and clearly annotated edition available...

"The truth is, I do indulge myself a little the more in pleasure, knowing that this is the proper age of my life to do it; and out of my observation that most men that do thrive in the world, do forget to take pleasure during the time that they are getting their estate, but reserve that till they have got one, and then it is too late for them to enjoy it with any pleasure."
-- Samuel Pepys's entry for March 10, 1666 from THE DIARY OF SAMUEL PEPYS

Though he rose to become the most powerful administrator in King Charles II’s navy, when Samuel Pepys began writing his secret journal in 1660 he was just a young clerk living in London. Over the next nine years, he became eyewitness to some of the most significant events in seventeenth-century English history, among them, the Restoration, the Great Plague of London in 1665, and the Great Fire of London in 1666. Pepys’s diary gives vivid descriptions of spectacular events, but much of the richness of the work lies in the details it provides about the minor dramas of daily life. While Pepys was keen to hear the king’s views, he was also always ready to talk with a soldier, a housekeeper, or a child rag-picker. He records with searing frankness his tumultuous personal life, including his marriage, infidelities, ambitions, and power schemes. He recounts with relish all the latest scandals, and reflects his voracious delight in music, food, books, scientific discoveries, and fashion. The result is a lively, often astonishing diary and an unrivaled account of life in seventeenth-century London. READ an excerpt from the introduction here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/…/the-diary-of-samuel-p…/

British Museum

Born ‪#‎onthisday‬ in 1633: Samuel Pepys, famous diarist and later President of the Royal Society http://ow.ly/JuEDk

2011 幾年前，曾讀過Samuel Pepys 的一些日記。
我必須感謝楊周翰著的 17世紀英國文學史 (北京大學出版社， 1996第2版)
現在的實力和了解，  似乎比不上當時。

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Today's Highlights

Spotlight:

Samuel Pepys

What was so special about Samuel Pepys' diary? It's possible that if Samuel Pepys (pronounced peeps) had known that the diary he inaugurated on January 1, 1660, would still be read today, he would have been more discreet. Scholars learned much about Restoration society through Pepys' candid and vivid observations. His personal life was also covered in lusty detail, including descriptions of some of his marital infidelities and thoughts about his wife, his friends and himself. Pepys' failing eyesight forced him to close his diary on May 31, 1669. The diary — written in a shorthand that was not easily deciphered — was first revealed to the public some two centuries later; in 1983 the first unabridged version of the diary was released. Pepys was born on February 23, 1633.

Quote:

"Strange to see how a good dinner and feasting reconciles everybody." — Samuel Pepys