Todd Bernhardt

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Annotations and comments

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

Comments

First Reading

About Sunday 24 June 1666

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

"but hath writ nothing to leave his name to posterity"

I think we see here (and in Sam's previous musings on the deaths of those around him) the reason why he decided to leave his Diary and the key to it in his library. Tomalin, in her excellent biography of him, theorizes that he re-read the Diary toward the end of his life, and also talks about his disappointment in not being able to write the history of the Navy that his friend Evelyn encouraged him to. Surely Sam realized, as he re-read what (I truly believe) was a private journal, the scale and scope of this historic document, and how it might be the thing that enabled his name to live on in posterity...

About Monday 18 June 1666

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"but, above all, the thinking to borrow money of the City, which will not be done, but be denied, they being little pleased with the King’s affairs, and that must breed differences between the King and the City."

When Sam says "the City" in instances like this, is it shorthand for "the monied interests"? Was the City the center of the county's financial activities even then? Or is there something else going on here?

Mary, I was thinking the same thing about the portraits...

About Sunday 17 June 1666

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

How heart-warming to read about the scene between Sam and his father, especially following on the sentiment he expressed the other day in regards to his father's portrait. There is real love between the two, as well as gratitude (and a little pride) on Sam's part that he's able to help take care of his father in his old age, even playing the role of family patriarch in some ways.

About Friday 8 June 1666

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"to report to him what the works are that are required of us and to divide among us, wherein I have taken a very good share, and more than I can perform, I doubt"

Heh -- who else but Our Sam would crow in his personal diary about having taken on more work than he can manage? Most entries would be along the lines of "managed to get away from the meeting with only one extra task, and I think I can foist that one off on my clerks"...

About Wednesday 30 May 1666

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"and there drew a draught of an order for my Lord Treasurer to sign for my having some little tallys made me in lieu of two great ones, of 2000l. each, to enable me to pay small sums therewith"

Smart man, that Samuel Pepys. Much likelier to get small sums paid in real money than larger ones, and as long as it adds up to the same amount at the end, so much the better.

About Monday 28 May 1666

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"They have been also to see pretty Mrs. Batelier, and conclude her to be a prettier woman than Mrs. Pierce"

Given Elizabeth's previously voiced jealousy of Mrs. P, I'm not too surprised by her assessment. It'll be interesting to see if Sam agrees.

About Monday 21 May 1666

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"Have I missed the story here? What is Sam so upset about?"

Tony, I think Sam's just beating himself up because he's been playing a bit and so is not completely in the know about each detail of where his victualling business stands. He thus runs the risk of not having a ready answer for anyone in the office who queries him about it, and this might hurt his (self-made) reputation as the whiz-kid businessman...

About Monday 21 May 1666

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Ira, as Terry's annotation shows, Sam's being playful. Another way to think of it would be if he said, "our favorite drive."

About Monday 21 May 1666

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

Well done, Balty! Genuinely glad that you're living up to Sam's expectations.

Phil, looks as if we have a definition of "betimes" -- in late spring/early summer, anyway...

About Friday 18 May 1666

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

Ah, he was among them ... but never *of* them. Sam's timeless lament -- "But, Lord! to see what a dull, heavy sort of people they are there would make a man mad" -- is that of the Type A personality among B's. Surely others can empathize with Sam and me...

About Thursday 19 April 1666

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Good point, Mary. I was wondering if perhaps John also suffered from kidney/bladder stones, but I think that was Sam's mother...?

About Saturday 21 April 1666

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Is the king making fun of Pett for inflexibility in design, and Taylor for lack of knowledge? It certainly sounds as if he is making fun of Batten...

About Monday 16 April 1666

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"citizen woman"

Anyone know what he means by this?

Interesting that Sam swings by to visit Betty Martin -- his sexual appetite has clearly been whetted by seeing Mrs. Turner and the old woman's maid.

Mary, I think you're right, plus I think there's an element of self-realization in Sam's statement -- he's realized he's simply not comfortable ("with some trouble and fear") asking to borrow money...

About Monday 9 April 1666

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

re: the joyner, etc.

We tend to forget how important natural light was back then. Strategic placement of windows could really add to the utility of a room and to the quality of life of the inhabitants.

re: "Days like these make one wonder where the other S Pepys is — Scrupulous Pepys, who confides to his Journall of the Oaths made, read and kept"

Right there, I'd imagine! Yes, it's a day of pleasure, but he's keeping company with women who are friends, rather than paramours...

About Monday 2 April 1666

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

"and is she I call wife"

He makes quite a point of repeating this, and so it must be for some dramatic effect, because it's certainly not to help himself remember...