John Evelyn's Diary

Synopsis

The diary of John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February 1706), a gentlemanly Royalist and virtuoso of the seventeenth century, was first published in 1818 (2nd edition, 1819) under the title Memoirs Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, in an edition by William Bray. Bray was assisted by William Upcott, who had access to the Evelyn family archives. The diary of Evelyn's contemporary Samuel Pepys was first published in 1825, and became more celebrated; but the publication of Evelyn's work in part prompted the attention given to Pepys's. Evelyn's diary has entries running from 1640, when the author was a student at the Middle Temple, to 1706. Its claim to be a diary, as opposed to a memoir, is not strict; up to around 1683 the entries were not daily additions, but were compiled much later from notes, and show in some cases the benefits of hindsight. When his travels are described, buildings or pictures may be described anachronistically, revealing the later use of other sources.

Text license: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

Details

Type

Book

Created by

John Evelyn

Cover: Wikimedia Commons · Evelyn, John, 1620-1706 · Public domain · Source