Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
Kate Loveman has written a very clear and useful guide to reading the shorthand in which Pepys wrote his diary, Tachygraphy. Scroll down that page to download the PDF guide for an insight into how Pepys wrote, and the work involved in translating his diary entries into modern English.
Kate posted this to the discussion list and I thought it was worth highlighting here – various new resources from the Museum of London that feature Pepys. They’re aimed at young children – around age 6 or 7 – and are focused on the Great Fire of London, deaf Londoners, and the shorthand that Pepys used.
The London Review of Books has a review by Fara Dabhoiwala of a book by Simon Newman called Freedom Seekers: Escaping from Slavery in Restoration London which heavily features Samuel Pepys.
As part of her current research project, Reimagining the Restoration: Samuel Pepys’s Diary and popular history for the 21st Century, Dr Kate Loveman has interviewed two authors: Catherine Johnson author of historical novels for young adults and children, set between 1660 and 1832, and Deborah Swift, author of novels including three based on women featured in Pepys’ diary, Pleasing Mr Pepys (2017), A Plague on Mr Pepys (2018), and Entertaining Mr Pepys (2019).
You may remember our review a few years ago of Kate Loveman’s book Samuel Pepys and His Books. The only problem with the book at the time was the very high cost, £81. Today the paperback has been released and, while it’s not cheap, it’s cheaper at £30.
I think this is only available in the UK, as I can’t see it on Amazon.com. Do post in the comments if you find it available elsewhere.
There’s a new book about to come out by Jacky Colliss Harvey, called Walking Pepys’s London. The publisher has offered readers of this site 20% off plus free UK delivery if you order it from their website using the coupon code PEPYSDIARY. Here’s the blurb:
The History of Parliament blog has a new post today about how Christmas was celebrated, or not, in the mid-17th century, which users Pepys’ diary’s one of its examples:
David James Harries recently got in touch to mention a paper he wrote for The Journal of Dry Eye and Ocular Surface Disease, entitled ‘Pepys’s Eyes: A Modern Answer to an Old Conundrum?’. Here’s the abstract:
Readers of this site may be interested in a new book, The Closet: The Eighteenth-Century Architecture of Intimacy by Danielle Bobker, which looks at this room as it was written about by various authors, including Samuel Pepys. Given how interested Pepys was in improving and enjoying his closet, it sounds interesting.
A couple of months ago I mentioned a couple of modern versions of Samuel Pepys recounting their experiences of living through the age of the coronavirus. If you’re looking for more, here’s Samuel Pepys: The Covid Diaries.