Tuesday 25 July 1665

Our good humour in every body continuing, and there I slept till seven o’clock. Then up and to the office, well refreshed, my eye only troubling me, which by keeping a little covered with my handkercher and washing now and then with cold water grew better by night. At noon to the ’Change, which was very thin, and thence homeward, and was called in by Mr. Rawlinson, with whom I dined and some good company very harmlessly merry. But sad the story of the plague in the City, it growing mightily. This day my Lord Brunker did give me Mr. Grant’s book upon the Bills of Mortality, new printed and enlarged.

Thence to my office awhile, full of business, and thence by coach to the Duke of Albemarle’s, not meeting one coach going nor coming from my house thither and back again, which is very strange. One of my chief errands was to speak to Sir W. Clerke about my wife’s brother, who importunes me, and I doubt he do want mightily, but I can do little for him there as to employment in the army, and out of my purse I dare not for fear of a precedent, and letting him come often to me is troublesome and dangerous too, he living in the dangerous part of the town, but I will do what I can possibly for him and as soon as I can.

Mightily troubled all this afternoon with masters coming to me about Bills of Exchange and my signing them upon my Goldsmiths, but I did send for them all and hope to ease myself this weeke of all the clamour.

These two or three days Mr. Shaw at Alderman Backewell’s hath lain sick, like to die, and is feared will not live a day to an end.

At night home and to bed, my head full of business, and among others, this day come a letter to me from Paris from my Lord Hinchingbroke, about his coming over; and I have sent this night an order from the Duke of Albemarle for a ship of 36 guns to [go] to Calais to fetch him.

20 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"my eye only troubling me, which by keeping a little covered with my handkercher and washing now and then with cold water grew better by night."

Is Pepys's ocular irritation a symptom of a mild case of Rosacea? Rosacea would be consistent with the rubicund complexion (esp. his nose) he appears to have in portraits -- assuming they are faithful.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa…

tyndale  •  Link

The reason Brunker is handing out books is that he's the current president of the Royal Society, and the
Royal Society ordered, on June 20, that its official printers publish the new edition of Graunt's book on mortality bills. The order is printed on the book, Brunker's name appended.

The original 1662 edition had 85 pages; the new one has over 200.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Rather tolerant of Sam regards Balty. I still can't help thinking there's more going on here with regards to his time in Holland and that he proved to be of use in some way.

Spoiler...

As he will in the future in the Scott affair...

***

Lord H...Nice to be son of a dad who commands part of His Majesty's Navy.

JWB  •  Link

Rosacea?

I'd guess it was grass pollen from his romp in the country. Last spring it was tree pollen in the park (my conjecture).

CGS  •  Link

"...At noon to the ‘Change, which was very thin, and thence homeward..."
so few to speak to

Michael Robinson  •  Link

"Bills of Mortality"

Graunt is a 'compilation.' This title was entered in the Stationer’s Register, to J. Wolfe, 14 July 1593; the first surviving copy of the weekly series is from 1603 (True bill of the vvhole number that hath died
At London : printed by I.R[oberts]. for Iohn Trundle, and are to be sold at his shop in Barbican, neere Long lane end, [1603]
1 sheet ([1] p.) ;c1⁰. STC (2nd ed.), 16743
The numbering runs each year from no. 1-52; there are no volume numbers.

These are the weekly statistics list, reported by the Worshipful Company of Parish Clerks, of the deaths in the City of London and of parishes without the walls in Westminster, and out-parishes in Middlesex and Surrey. They include statistics on causes of death, numbers of christenings and burials, details on accidental deaths; includes the Lord Mayor’s assize of bread. The first surviving issue from the ‘Parish Clerk’s Press’ is dated 1630.

Spoiler * The issues from 30 Oct. 1688-c 1700, after the Parish Clerks gave up maintaining their own press ‘in Hall’ have an imprint reading: “Printed by Benj. Motte, printer to the Company of Parish-Clerks,”

Tony Eldridge  •  Link

and letting him come often to me is troublesome and dangerous too, he living in the dangerous part of the town,

Presumably 'dangerous' because the plague is raging there?

A. De Araujo  •  Link

"Rosacea"
Methinks it is not rosacea or allergy which is often bilateral;most likely a foreign body or a mild infection.

tyndale  •  Link

Graunt does produce a compilation of the bills this year, but the book Bruncker is handing out is a statistical analysis of the bills with various observations based on them. You can read the first edition of the book here:

http://www.ac.wwu.edu/~stephan/Gr…

A few of the arguments he makes:

32. The Plague Anno 1603 lasted eight years, that in 1636 twelve years, but that in 1625 continued but one single year, p. 36
33. That Alterations in the Air do incomparably more operate as to the Plague, then the Contagion of converse, p. 36
34. That Purples, small-Pox, and other malignant Diseases fore-run the Plague, p. 36
35. A disposition in the Air towards the Plague doth also dispose women to Abortions, p. 37
36. That as about 1/5. part of the whole people died in the great Plague-years, so two other fifth parts fled which shews the large relation, and interest, which the Londoners have in the country. pag. 37,38

Ruben  •  Link

"Lord H…Nice to be son of a dad who commands part of His Majesty’s Navy."

Only in peace times!
In times of war, to cross the Channel was a big risk for the son of an important personality. Like today, the acquisition and retention of prisoners was not only political but also a psychological weapon.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Graunt's *Bills* also provided an analysis of the plague's incidence by parish.

"Epidemics and the built environment in 1665" by Justin Champion in
*Epidemic Disease in London*, ed. J.A.I. Champion (Centre for Metropolitan History Working Papers Series, No.1, 1993): pp. 35-52 (Copyright © Justin Champion, 1993)
Graunt showed an inverse relation of plague deaths and wealth
http://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/epic…

The Great Plague of London, 1665 (from JWB)
http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/contag…

Michael Robinson  •  Link

Re 'Bills OF Mortaliy'

In the weekly broadsides the data set was given by individual parish and 'cause,' as provided by the individual clerks, from the beginning of the series in 1603 onward. The difficulty of coping with the repeated specialist printing of a varying data set was why they set up for a period their own press 'in hall;' its very probably the first example of this type of regular printing of a data set over an extended time.

Its also worth noting that the data required to be collected is only of those who were Freemen of the City, their spouses, and their families aged under 21 -- not all deaths and births.

Survivals of the individual weekly issues are of great rarity (the layout etc is near identical to the pages of Graunt, which is what is reproduced on most sites rather than an actual example of a weekly bill; for example the double page image in L&M vi, pp. 234/5, stated to be a "Bill" is in fact from the book issue, note the position of the rules and the printers signature 'L3'lower right margin.) The third item on this page ( http://www.quaritch.com/# click on the 'postage stamp' for a full image and description) is a reproduction of a individual sheet from 1680 -- showing the front of sheet only, the data by parish is provided on the verso. The arms, upper left, are those of the Parish Clerks of London.

http://www.londonparishclerks.co.…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

L&M note Balthazar St Michel lived in a crowded western out-parish.

Andrew Hamilton  •  Link

"Lord H…Nice to be son of a dad who commands part of His Majesty’s Navy."

Reminds of a story told about Averill Harriman, and his railroad magnate father E.H. Father and son were in the Far East in the summer of 2005 on the heels of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty ending the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. E.H. was negotiating to purchase the South Manchuria Railroad ceded to Japan by the treaty (he didn't get it, in the end). Young Averill, then about 14, was due at Groton School on a certain date. Consulting regular steamship and railroad schedules his father determined that he would not arrive in Groton, Mass., until several days after the start of school, and sent a telegram to Headmaster Endicott Peabody to inform him. By return wire Peabody said that if Master Harriman could not be at school on the appointed date, he needn't come at all. So father Harriman ordered a special fast ship to pick up his son, carry him across the Pacific to San Francisco, and deliver him to a special train that would speed across the United States in time for Averill to register. He made it.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"this day come a letter to me from Paris from my Lord Hinchingbroke, about his coming over; and I have sent this night an order from the Duke of Albemarle for a ship of 36 guns to [go] to Calais to fetch him."

PEPYS TO LORD HINCHINBROKE (Vessel sent to convey him from France)

The life, journals and correspondence of Samuel Pepys, &c. Volume I, p. 94.
http://books.google.com/books?id=…

Gerald Berg  •  Link

Spoilers: We need a hard and fast rule on what constitutes a spoiler. My vote is anything that happens outside of the diary timeline is not a spoiler. Thanks RG for the heads up on the Scott affair. "Scott was one of the most fraudulent rogues of the 17th century." Great! But was that a spoiler?

Plague: As we get to meet so many persons via Pepys perhaps there's a way to tally people mentioned who die of plague for an' in house' feel for mortality rates?

AH shades of Around the World in 80 days!

Gerald Berg  •  Link

Thanks Terry. Mortifying reading. Over 2600 from Teeth and Worms?

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

They thought worms ate teeth, Gerald. We should read this as infections ... when antibiotics no longer work, we may not find this so surprising.

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