The Diary of Samuel Pepys

Reading Journal - Session 2 - 25/10/2016

The Diary of Samuel Pepys (1660-69)

• wrote more than 1.3 million words
• made him famous after being published in the 19^th century
• very detailed account of life in the English Restoration period, especially important for historians

It is very interesting to look at this excerpt as an early example for diary writing that really shows the mixture of private and public life, recounts of normal days mixed with exciting events. It gives a detailed account of important historical events like the London Fire, but from a personal point of view. It is interesting that Pepys felt the need to record everything from his life, from the amount of money he possessed at a given time, to the squabbles with his wife and an affair with a woman. He used a code of different languages to write down the details about his affair, but he still needed to write it down – so that others could read it later on or to never forget it? It certainly paints an interesting picture for present day readers to follow Pepys’s activities in the 17^th century, although, considering he wrote more than 1.3 million words (that may or may not all be published?) it might be boring at times because life cannot be exciting constantly, even though this  shows how every life can be interesting, especially centuries later, when routine might even be more interesting than just the exciting events.

Link to picture