The Diary of Samuel Pepys: 1664 [Paperback]

Samuel Pepys (Author), William Matthews (Editor), Robert Latham (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1995 | Series: Diary of Samuel Pepys

The fifth volume of the complete Diary of Samuel Pepys in its most authoritative and acclaimed edition. This complete edition of the Diary of Samuel Pepys comprises eleven volumes -- nine volumes of text and footnotes (with an introduction of 120 pages in Volume I), a tenth volume of commentary (The Companion) and an eleventh volume of Index. Each of the first eight volumes contains one whole calendar year of the diary, from January to December. The ninth volume runs from January 1668 to May 1669. The Diary was first published in abbreviated form in 1825. A succession of new editions, re-issues and selections, published in the Victorian ear, made the diary one of the best-known books, and Pepys one of the best-known figures, of English history. But in none of these versions -- not even in the Wheatley, which for long stood as the standard edition -- was there a reliable, still less a full text, and in none of them was there a commentary with any claim to completeness. This edition was in preparation for many years, and remains the first in which the entire diary is printed and in which an attempt has been made at systematic comment on it. The primary aim of the principal editors was to see that the diary was presented in a manner suitable to the historical and literary importance of its contents. At the same time they had in mind the interests of the wide public of English-speaking people to whom the diarist himself, rather than the importance of what he wrote, is what matters.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'The Latham-Matthews transcription of Pepys' Diary is one of the glories of contemporary English publishing.' The Times 'The pleasure of Pepys -- of reading him -- is his own pleasure in experience! Pepys' diary is the cheerful self-report, not of the man eminent in naval history, not of the historical witness, but of the unobjectionable hedonist.' Guardian 'Here, in one of the finest feats in all the long history of scholarship, is Pepys' Diary, once and for all. Exegi monumentum aere perennius.' Observer 'The editors have achieved the impossible! one can now read the Diary perfectly easily, month by month, year by year! here at last is a really learned edtiion where the learning is put at the disposal of the layman.' New Statesman 'It isn't often that one encounters a publication -- especially of this magnitude -- which achieves complete perfection, but there is no doubt that this does.' Sir Arthur Bryant

About the Author

Robert Latham, cbe, ma, fba -- Fellow and Pepys Librarian, Magdalene College, Cambridge, and formerly reader in History, Royal Holloway College, University of London. William Matthews, ma, ph.d, d.lett -- Late Professor of English, University of California, Los Angeles, and Fellow of Birkbeck College, University of London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 386 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins (December 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0004990250
• ISBN-13: 978-0004990255
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,199,510 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the definitive edition of Pepys' Diary!, September 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Vol. 5: 1664 (Hardcover)

This is the best edition of Samuel Pepy's Diary and is hugely enjoyable to read. It takes you into the world of a 17th century yuppie par excellance with all his faults and virtues. The scholarship is first rate, meticulous and rigorous and the footnotes add enormously to the interest of the diary. The introductory essays are also first rate and I want the whole set of all 12 volumes!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Honest, vivid account of 17th Century London, July 9, 2001

By 

Jan Overstreet (Murphys, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Vol. 5: 1664 (Paperback)

Samuel Pepys must certainly be the most candid of diarists, and the most aware of his time and place. He makes no effort to hide his flaws, nor his accomplishments. We learn about court intrigue, food, household management, plays, the foibles of kings, taverns, music, the navy, architecture, preachers, marriage, family relationships...the man was open to the world around him in an unbelievable way, and conveys it all with zest. It is absolutely enthralling.