Samuel Pepys began his celebrated diary in 1660, at the age of 26, as a young and ambitious secretary. Due to his support of the kings restoration, he soon found himself in an influential position in the Royal Navys administration. He was to keep the diary for nearly ten years, until his eye sight failed, and in it he would record many of the great events of the age, such as the outbreak of plague and the Great Fire of London, as well as many smaller, domestic and personal happenings. Although written in shorthand and principally for his own personal remembrance and pleasure, it is clear at...

A scholarly edition of letters by Samuel Pepys and his family. The edition presents an authoritative text, together with an introduction, commentary notes, and scholarly apparatus.