The Diary of Samuel Pepys

Im Jahre 1660 begann der englische Marine Administrator Samuel Pepys seine berühmten Tagebücher zu schreiben, welche einen detaillierten Bericht über das Leben in London von 1660-69 geben, einschließlich der Großen Pest und dem Großen Feuer von London. Hier in einer gekürzten Ausgabe.

Richard Le Gallienne's elegant abridgment of the Diary captures the essential writings of Samuel Pepys (1633-1703), a remarkable man who witnessed the coronation of Charles II, the Great Plague of 1665, and the Great Fire of 1666. Originally scribbled in a cryptic shorthand, Pepys's quotidian journal of life in Restoration London provides an astonishingly frank and diverting account of political intrigues; naval, church, and cultural affairs; and the sexual escapades and domestic strife of a man with a voracious, childlike appetite for living. "As a human document the Diary is literally unique,” notes Le Gallienne. "It will have a still greater value for its historical importance.”