Monday 8 April 1667

Up, and having dressed myself, to the office a little, and out, expecting to have seen the pretty daughter of the Ship taverne at the hither end of Billiter Lane (whom I never yet have opportunity to speak to). I in there to drink my morning draught of half a pint of Rhenish wine; but a ma doleur elle and their family are going away thence, and a new man come to the house. So I away to the Temple, to my new bookseller’s; and there I did agree for Rycaut’s late History of the Turkish Policy, which costs me 55s.; whereas it was sold plain before the late fire for 8s., and bound and coloured as this is for 20s.; for I have bought it finely bound and truly coloured, all the figures, of which there was but six books done so, whereof the King and Duke of York, and Duke of Monmouth, and Lord Arlington, had four. The fifth was sold, and I have bought the sixth. So to enquire out Mrs. Knipp’s new lodging, but could not, but do hear of her at the Playhouse, where she was practising, and I sent for her out by a porter, and the jade come to me all undressed, so cannot go home to my house to dinner, as I had invited her, which I was not much troubled at, because I think there is a distance between her and Mrs. Pierce, and so our company would not be so pleasant. So home, and there find all things in good readiness for a good dinner, and here unexpectedly I find little Mis. Tooker, whom my wife loves not from the report of her being already naught; however, I do shew her countenance, and by and by come my guests, Dr. Clerke and his wife, and Mrs. Worshipp, and her daughter; and then Mr. Pierce and his wife, and boy, and Betty; and then I sent for Mercer; so that we had, with my wife and I, twelve at table, and very good and pleasant company, and a most neat and excellent, but dear dinner; but, Lord! to see with what envy they looked upon all my fine plate was pleasant; for I made the best shew I could, to let them understand me and my condition, to take down the pride of Mrs. Clerke, who thinks herself very great. We sat long, and very merry, and all things agreeable; and, after dinner, went out by coaches, thinking to have seen a play, but come too late to both houses, and then they had thoughts of going abroad somewhere; but I thought all the charge ought not to be mine, and therefore I endeavoured to part the company, and so ordered it to set them all down at Mrs. Pierces; and there my wife and I and Mercer left them in good humour, and we three to the King’s house, and saw the latter end of the “Surprisall,” a wherein was no great matter, I thought, by what I saw there. Thence away to Polichinello, and there had three times more sport than at the play, and so home, and there the first night we have been this year in the garden late, we three and our Barker singing very well, and then home to supper, and so broke up, and to bed mightily pleased with this day’s pleasure.

33 Annotations

First Reading

Michael McCollough  •  Link

Showing off the china so he can make his guests envious; Going on about how rare his new book is and all the high muckety-mucks who own the other copies.... The more I read of Sam's diary the happier I am not to have a closer acquaintance with him. Can't fault his self-understanding, though.

Carl in Boston  •  Link

The books, the books. They're beautiful, and Sam has the last of 6 elegant copies. Drool, drool.

cum salis grano  •  Link

all for naught.
"...and I sent for her out by a porter, and the jade come to me all undressed, so cannot go home to my house to dinner, as I had invited her,..."

Best china.
"...upon all my fine plate was pleasant;..."
not earthenware?

L. K. van Marjenhoff  •  Link

Sam and the airs he puts on -- not for nothing did Claire Tomalin name her book about him "The Unequalled Self." For Sam, it's all about Sam.

Linda  •  Link

The morning draught is back! We haven't heard about that for years.

cum salis grano  •  Link

Samuell leaves out the fillers of the day except if it be an excuse for a little palpitation or PVC.

Mary  •  Link

Earthenware?
Certainly not, nor china, but real plate from the goldsmiths.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...to the office a little, and out, expecting to have seen the pretty daughter of the Ship taverne at the hither end of Billiter Lane #whom I never yet have opportunity to speak to#."

"There he be again...Bastard!"

"Who, Father?"

"That little pervert from the Naval Office, strutting round in his finery, up and down the road, tryin' to look like he has business round here. Daughter, you'll not be at the door or leavin' the family rooms this morning."

"Aye, Father...I'd be afeared of coming across that man's bow."

"He'd give a broadside that's for sure. That's it, Mr. Pepys, you bug-eyed little freak, walk, walk, walk...Take a good, long leer at me place, that's right. There'll be no manhandling my little one. Me name ain't Mitchell...Nor is it Bagwell, let alone Tooker."

"Isn't he charged with the King's business for the fleet, Father? What's he doing strollin' round our place all morning?"

"Showin' us why we be losing this miserable war, daughter, that's what. Lord, he's changed course and is preparin' to board. Out, the back way, girl...Get your mother, we'll be going abroad. Francis?!!"

"Anon, anon, sir!"

"Take care of Mr. Pepys and tell him the family's out. In fact, tell him I've sold the place to you and we're bound for God known where. And Francis? The 'Rhenish' wine for him..."

"But, sir? The rats have been swimming in that."

"He'll appreciate the extra flavor, with his fine palate. Come, daughter."

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...and a most neat and excellent, but dear dinner; but, Lord! to see with what envy they looked upon all my fine plate was pleasant; for I made the best shew I could, to let them understand me and my condition, to take down the pride of Mrs. Clerke, who thinks herself very great."

What could make for a more delightful meal than to watch your 'friends' fume over your glorious possession? Like portentiously pulling out the latest gadget nowadays just to show the fellas you have it...First.

But I don't quite get Tooker strolling in and sitting down to dinner, given that she must have made the 12th person. I suppose Bess would grudgingly accept Sam's not wanting to turn the kid away from the table but what would have been her reason for stopping by in the first place? And why would our socially conscious to a fault Sam tolerate a young girl of dubious rep at his table? Even if he would happily lure her up to his office anytime...

Knipp came to him all undressed...Interesting mental picture. Followed by even more interesting mental picture of morose Chris Knipp coming, fully dressed, with cleaver in hand.

C.J.Darby  •  Link

"Up, and having dressed myself" He does leave some unimportant details in or I presume he was not in the habit of going out undresseed and there should be a sin of occasioning envy in others as it is such a guilty pleasure.

Bradford  •  Link

"the jade come to me all undressed,"---doesn't "undressed" mean, at this time, "not properly or formally attired"? One imagines her, as ze French so delightfully term it, en deshabille, i.e., in a dressing gown with merely a shift or nightgown beneath. And how long would it take, even given her stage experience with the quick-change, Knipp Undressed to mount the proper foundation garments, apply some discreet cosmetics (ars est celare artem, to be sure), "dress" her hair (which can be a complex task all in itself), don her gown plus any outerwear (surely the evenings in London are still chilly in April 1667), and thus be fittingly "dressed" for the festive board? Answers on a postcard, please.

Michael McCollough  •  Link

Mary- I suspected it was probably gold or silver; 'China' has just become my catch-all term for 'good dishes'. Thanks for clearing that up, though- I'd sort of forgotten what china actually was.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

“Up, and having dressed myself”

noting to his Diary that he didn't wait for his boy (Tom) to come and do it.

Linda  •  Link

CSG -- what is "PVC"? All that comes to my mind is polyvinyl chloride.

Linda  •  Link

Yes, that pairs well with "palpitation." Thanks!

jeannine  •  Link

Dinner Is Served…..

When Sam gives you an invite to dine
You’ll be served on his plate, oh so fine

As you arrive at his great table
Pick your seat with this warning label

Best stay far from Little Miss Tooker
Elizabeth swears she’s a hooker

If you desire the overly great
Mrs. Clerke believes she is first rate

There’s the Doctor and Mrs. Peirce
Who’ll delight with gossip most fierce

If it’s the young ones you most enjoy
Sit yourself beside their charming boy

If music makes your head swoon
Mercer can carry a tune

If you think that you ought ‘ta
There is Worship or her daughter

If you have nothing to lose,
Sit by Betty if you so choose

Best stay away from Sam’s lovely wife
Who is spirited and full of life

If your eyes to his wife do gaze
You’ll ignite Sam’s hot jealous craze

But if you tend to like self absorbed creeps
Sit yourself beside our boy Sam Pepys!

cape henry  •  Link

Bradford, I think you have it with "en deshabille."

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Heaven...

"Bess!? '...self absorbed creeps...'?"

"Well...What else would rhyme with Pepys, dearest? I think it a very fine poem, Sam'l. Except, of course..."

"Just so..." Ah, the blessing of a supportive...

"I could carry a tune as well as Mercer by then..." frown at screen.

"Oh, shut up..."

Fern  •  Link

"but, Lord! to see with what envy they looked upon all my fine plate was pleasant"

Envy is often mixed with suspicion and disdain, but perhaps Sam is enjoying himself too much to notice it.

A. De Araujo  •  Link

"but,Lord!to see with what envy they looked upon all my fine plates was pleasant"
It is said that on one of these occasions Sam invented the expression:"Eat your heart out"

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"Mr. Pepys? Samuel Pepys, esq.?"

"Sir?"

"You are served, sir." hands document. "Insufficent payment of poll tax, sir."

"What?"

"Yes, sir. Seems a Mrs. Clerke reported you as having quite an excess of 1000Ls in silver plate. One of our best agents, that Mrs. Clerke." smile.

Australian Susan  •  Link

Wasn't Sam's plate gold? he had really splashed out in conspicuous consumption some time ago, i think. Sam arrives home sans Knipp, but then finds he's got Little Miss Tooker, so "sends for Mercer" to make up an even number. Presumably as she had previously been a companion to Bess, she can still be summoned to make up numbers at the last minute.
I love Sam's glee over what he thinks he sees in his guests' faces over his ostentatious table and then his dismay when, having decided to treat his company to an afternoon at the playhouse, he finds he might have to take them on a (much more expensive) jaunt somewhere else - penny counting going on here.
And then Sam has the honesty to admit that the farcelike Ponchinello is more pleasing than the play.
Is the book he refers to in the Pepys collection still - if so, probably one of the most valuable items in it, if it is truly as rare as Sam makes out. Or has the bookseller sold the sixth [sic] copy to countless people?

I wonder if the new man in the Ship tavern, having taken note of Sam's enquiry, spent the afternoon interviewing buxom barmaids?

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

" I did agree for Rycaut’s late History of the Turkish Policy, which costs me 55s.; whereas it was sold plain before the late fire for 8s., and bound and coloured as this is for 20s.; for I have bought it finely bound and truly coloured, all the figures, of which there was but six books done so, whereof the King and Duke of York, and Duke of Monmouth, and Lord Arlington, had four. The fifth was sold, and I have bought the sixth. '

L&M: Paul Rycaut, The present state of the Ottoman empire...(1667): PL 2372; bound in acid-stained calf, now much pitted. The colouured prints are charming. There is a note in Pepys's hand on the back of the title-page repeating this information about the prices, together with a receipt (8 April) for 55s. written by Pepys and signed by John Ford, servant of Starkey. Cf. https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"I made the best shew I could, to let them understand me and my condition, to take down the pride of Mrs. Clerke, who thinks herself very great. "

L&M: Her husband, already physician to the King's Household, was this year appointed Physician to the King's person.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Thence away to Polichinello"

L&M: Pepys probably saw this popular Italian puppet-play at Moorfields, though there was also a puppet theatre at Charing Cross at this time.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"Up, and having dressed myself, ..."

I presume he went womanizing and to two theaters and had a "stones" dinner party for 12 wearing his new mourning attire. And Bess in hers. Not modest behavior for people in those circumstances ... but they were not Victorians, so I guess mourning was about the show and not the activities undertaken. I don't get it -- the Court was in mourning for a year for Catherine's mother.

Jonathan V  •  Link

What does Pepys mean by this phrase: "... and here unexpectedly I find little Mis. Tooker, whom my wife loves not from the report of her being already naught."

The only way I can make sense of this is to think that he's using it in one of these meanings, from https://www.dictionary.com/browse…:
3. Archaic. worthless; useless.
4. Obsolete. morally bad; wicked.

So what he seems to be saying is that his wife doesn't like her because she's reported to be "already (for such a young age?) morally bad or wicked." And here she just shows up for dinner!

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

My take is all of the above, Jonathan. Elizabeth had heard Ms. Tooker has the pox because her mother had introduced her into the life, and told Pepys she wouldn't invite her over again. But here she is, so little Ms. Tooker must have popped in spontaneously to say hello.

By using Our Encyclopedia, you can find when that took place. Click on Mis. Tooker in this text -- click on References (18) -- scroll down to 1667 and you'll see Mar. 15 -- click on it and you'll find the sorry story (you'll have to decipher Terry Forman's LittleBits to get all the details).

###

This dinner party is very odd: Pepys had delayed his annual Stones Banquet because of his bereavement, so this may be using up the food before it went bad? -- or is it his delayed celebratory lunch? -- either way, why didn't he invite enough people? Instead he's scooping available hungry folk at the last minute to fill up the chairs.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

One of Pepys' prized silver platters is still available for you to see:
https://www.pepysdiary.com/news/2…
click through to see the photo.

Remember the last sentence of his 1666 summary: "One thing I reckon remarkable in my owne condition is that I am come to abound in good plate, so as at all entertainments to be served wholly with silver plates, having two dozen and a half."
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

Alev Öncül  •  Link

Can anyone tell which Betty is this?

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

My guess, Alev, is that you are referring to:

"... and then Mr. Pierce and his wife, and boy, and Betty; ..."

James and Elizabeth Pearse have a daughter named Betty. That's my guess given the context.
However, L&M (and Phil Gyford) consider the sentence inconclusive enough -- given the endless number of Bettys available and that pesky comma -- to not specify which Betty this is.

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