Samuel Pepys
(1633–1703)

Samuel Pepys is an unusual figure in English literature, not so much because his fame rests on a single work but rather the one work, his Diary, was never intended for publication. This Diary, which Pepys kept in shorthand and in his own private code, was not deciphered until the 19th century.

The man who painted this vivid portrait of his time was a "very worthy, industrious, and curious person," according to his friend John Evelyn. Born in London a son of a tailor, Pepys studied at St. Paul's School and Magdalene College, Cambridge. Upon graduation in 1653, he became secretary to his influential cousin, Edward Montagu, later the Earl of Sandwich. Two years later he married Elizabeth St. Michel, a girl of 15. The Diary contains many details of their strife-ridden union, which survived Pepys countless infidelities and lasted until her early death in 1669.

Pepys began his career as a naval man in 1660 when he was appointed clerk of the King's ships and clerk of the privy seal. At this same time, Pepys began to keep a diary. His advancement, as the Diary notes, was rapid, and with each new position, Pepys grew richer. Yet his life was not without its tragedies. In the same year his wife died, Pepys's failing eyesight caused him to stop keeping the Diary. In 1679, he was imprisoned briefly in the Tower of London, accused of popery and treason, and in 1690 he once again spent time in prison on charges of intrigue.

The Diary, originally in six manuscript volumes, remained in cipher until 1819 when a student of Magdalene College, Cambridge began transcribing it. Published in 1825, the Diary proved a fascinating mix of candid private revelations and keenly observed public scenes. The 1660s, during which the Diary was kept, saw Pepys's personal rise in the world from obscure clerk to highly regaded public servant. It also saw–and through Pepys's eyes modern readers can see–the coronation of King Charles II, the devastating London plague of 1665, and the Great Fire of 1666.

In the centuries since his death, some readers have dismissed Pepys as a shallow figure and his observations as mere gossip. But the Samuel Pepys who emerges from between the lines of the Diary is more than just a government careerist with a roving eye. He is a man of intelligence and great diplomacy, much admired by the people of his time, and evidently deserving of that admiration. He is also a diarist of exceptional honesty and perception. Readers of today who wish to know about life in 17th-century London are greatly in his debt.

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