Todd Bernhardt

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Todd Bernhardt has posted 946 annotations/comments since 8 January 2003.

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First Reading

About Sunday 17 November 1661

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

re: The Bests and Worsts

I've always viewed this as an indication of Sam's lust for life and for new experiences. I don't think it's simply a way of saying "very," nor is it hyperbolic -- I think it's the result of a childlike enthusiasm. One of his more charming attributes, if you ask me...

About Thursday 14 November 1661

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re: all sorts of victuals

Susan, wouldn't it be *easier* to keep things during the colder months? (And yes, Pauline, I'd love to read more about the contents of this pie, but I bet the description was enough for Sam, even re-reading the passage in his old age...)

Mmmmmm ... pie.
http://www.weebl.jolt.co.uk/pie.h…

About Saturday 9 November 1661

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Sam the Diplomat

"Among other things my Lady did mightily urge me to lay out money upon my wife, which I perceived was a little more earnest than ordinary, and so I seemed to be pleased with it" ... but really wasn't, even though he resolves to "bestow a lace upon her." Best not to seem a skinflint in front of My Lady, eh?

About Wednesday 6 November 1661

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Thanks, Mary. So, is Sam saying that unlike the other clerks ("I do not join with them"), he has already shown the Lord Privy Seal his table of fees, and that the Lord has asked him to bring in an example of his work to show the other clerks ("So he desires me to bring in one which I observe in making of fees, which I will speedily do")?

About Wednesday 6 November 1661

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re: "my Lord Privy Seal, who will at last force the clerks to bring in a table of their fees, which they have so long denied, but I do not join with them, and so he is very respectful to me."

Anyone care to help me w/an interpretation of this? Thanks in advance...

About Sunday 3 November 1661

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re: "liberall genius"

I don't know if Sam necessarily means "generous" ... I read this more as "well-rounded" -- meaning that his genius lies in his ability to take in, digest, and exhibit a wide range of skills and interests. Essentially, he's a deep, multi-dimensional kind of guy, able to see and interpret the many shades of gray that make up life, rather than a shallow, dogmatic, one-dimensional person like the one recently elec ... oops, better not go there.

About Wednesday 30 October 1661

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re: David, Pauline and Occam's Razor

"Sir Robert was a healthy, successful, capable man; his sudden death has left his family in grief and confusion, unable to arrange a proper reception and viewing."

OR ... is it possible that "but I fear he hath left his family in great distraction" means that he left a great many debts and other problems unknown to his family? Which puts them at their wits' ends, and renders them unable to pay for a proper funeral?

Your Satanic attorney,
Todd

About Sunday 27 October 1661

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re: Mourning (does not) become Elizabeth

(My apologies to E. O'Neill) Do we know that Beth's mourning clothes are still in hono(u)r of Uncle Robert? Perhaps they're in hono(u)r of Sir Robert...?

That said, I had to chuckle at today's entry. I do love this man sometimes. His honesty in these entries is completely disarming. First we have the very affecting sense of loss, and Sam's outrage at what he perceives to be the Sir Williams' duplicity, which in both cases seems to me to be very truly felt. Then, as Robert and Vincente say, you can completely relate to how Sam suffers during obligations of the evening, when he and Beth are as "merry as we could be in their company."

About Thursday 10 October 1661

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re: "a late bruise"

Could someone with access to L&M please fill in the entire phrase? I appreciate John's contribution above (and am working with all my might to avoid making a joke about the information's inclusion in "The Shorter Pepys"), but it doesn't seem as if the sentence is complete.

FWIW, things unrelated to Sam's operation could cause the same pain ... for example, chlamydia (a sexually transmitted infection caused by a bacteria called chlamydia trachomatis) can, in men, cause inflammation of the reproductive area near the testicles (a condition known as epidydimitis).

Uncross your legs, gents.

About Maps of Britain

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Cool site combines aerial photos and street maps!

Not all of us are lucky enough to be able to visit Sam's sites; I've found that this resource helps me visualize things a little better:

http://www.multimap.com/

The programmers there have figured out how to overlay a street map on aerial views of various places in the world, including (of course) London, Brampton, etc.

Go to the site above, and click the appropriate map to zoom in on it. Once you get to a certain scale (1:200,000 or below), you can click the Aerial link at the top of the map. This will give you the aerial view with the street-map overlay. Pretty neat-o, eh?

About Friday 4 October 1661

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re: "a truly trusted friend"

Vincente brings up a good point here ... it's going to be interesting to see, over the course of the diary, the progression of the relationship between Sam and Will, knowing how deep their friendship was later in life (if I recall correctly, Pepys essentially spent his waning years as a guest of Will's, who did very well as a result of their business and personal relationship).

About Thursday 3 October 1661

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re: "like a fool"

Sam is what he is, and that's all he is. I love reading his diary because it's a glimpse into another time and another place ... I find I have to quell my biases so I don't condemn Sam and his 17th-century cohorts for theirs. Makes the reading easier and more instructive, IMO.

As for Lady Batten, Sam (and Elizabeth, for that matter) has had a poor opinion of her for a while. If I recall my Tomalin correctly, she was very much Batten's "trophy wife" (to use a modern-day bias), and so was not taken seriously by many around her.

I actually think his comment about her is pretty funny. He's not just being contrary -- remember, he said yesterday that it was the worst theater experience he'd ever had ("Methinks a very poor play"), and suddenly here she is, rhapsodizing over it. Who among us hasn't secretly rolled our eyes at a co-worker or acquaintance who goes on and on praising a movie or play that we know actually is crap? Sam's simply doing the same here, confiding to his diary that *he* knows quality when he sees it.

About Wednesday 2 October 1661

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re: Sam the Social Climber

Lorry, I don't think Pegg Kite was part of the party whom Sam wined and dined. It looks to me as if it's just Uncle Fenner and his two friends ... he hasn't had a good word to say about her yet, and it seems as if he thinks he's simply doing a favor by helping to oversee the will (and he's on the verge of changing his mind about that!)

About Tuesday 1 October 1661

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re: Third-rate personalities

One hopes Elizabeth -- and certainly Sam, given his good musical taste! -- also would have grown beyond *shudder* Andrew Lloyd Weber. Ick.

Vincente, up to this point I've extracted and saved particularly notable quotes from Sam, but today, you join the club: "Education should not be to stuff in but to draw forth all the talents that lie hidden." Works for me.

About Sunday 29 September 1661

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re: "I being now so out of order that I durst not read prayers, for fear of being perceived by my servants in what case I was."

This provides an interesting glimpse into the Sunday night routine at the Pepys household ... Sam, as head of said household, apparently leads everyone, even the servants, in Sunday prayers. I had not realized this. With my more-modern view of religion as a personal matter, I'd assumed that this was something he did alone, or perhaps with Elizabeth.

I wonder what excuse he gave to the staff? Maybe Elizabeth had to "call-in sick" for him?

So, if he was too drunk/buzzed to lead the Sunday prayers, I wonder what the definition of "foxed" is? Passed-out/falling-down drunk?

About Pepys topic map

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

Fantastic! I love it as much for the technology and the potential (as
Phil says, XML is a universal language that can be leveraged in many
ways) as for the titles of the topics.

For example ... Get your kids' book titles here!
-- Samuel takes a singing lesson
-- Samuel buys new boots
-- Samuel gets a trim
-- Samuel chats with a Quaker

Or adult titles!
-- Samuel and Monsieur d'Esquier meet a Mrs Clifford
-- Doll, the new chamber maid, visits the Pepys
-- Samuel reads 'Hookers Ecclesiastical Polity'
etc...

-Todd

About Saturday 21 September 1661

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re: "the house, which is yet very backward"

David, Sam is talking about two houses in this entry … when he’s “going up and down the house and garden with” his father, he’s talking about Brampton; when he’s talking about the very non-forward house, he’s talking about Hinchingbroke.

FWIW, I also agree that the simplest reading of this (i.e., the literal one) is probably correct.

So home and to supper and to bed…