PEPYS, SAMUEL. Memoirs of Samuel Pepys, Esq. London, 1825. 2 vols. First ed. Bookplate Owen S. Tudor, signed, both vols.
Memoirs of Samuel Pepys, Esq. F.R.S. Secretary to the Admiralty in the Reigns of Charles II. and James II. Comprising His Diary from 1659 to 1669. London: Henry Colburn: 1825.2 vols. 4to, 3/4 calf over marbled boards, gilt-lettered spines, rebacked. First edition of one of the most important primary sources for the English Restoration period. Pepys recorded his diary for just nine years (1660-1669) yet "we know more about Pepys than about any other Englishman of his time." (Ollard) It is the "nonpareil of English Diaries; the observations and records of a man of infinite variety and zest 'ever with child to see new things;' his own work, domestic life, friendships, and pleasures, which took him to almost every section of English life, from the court to the docks; in its immediacy and variety it is one of the supreme portraits of a man, inside and outside, and a mirror of the times." (Matthews, British Diaries) Complete with 12 engraved plates and one map. Bookplate Owen S. Tudor, with his signature, to front pastedown both vols. Rubbing to boards; scattered foxing; offsetting from plates.
Property from a Private Collection
Literature:
Ollard; Matthews, 29.
