Quotations from the Diary of Samuel Pepys presents a selected gathering of memorable passages from one of the most important diaries in English literature. Samuel Pepys recorded daily life in Restoration London with unusual immediacy: politics, theatre, naval administration, domestic life, illness, gossip, ambition, fear, pleasure, money, books, plague, fire, and the shifting fortunes of public and private life. Arranged by David Widger from the Project Gutenberg edition of Pepys's diary, this selection offers readers a compact way into the wit, candour, curiosity, and historical value of Pepys's writing.
Pepys's diary is both a literary landmark and an indispensable record of seventeenth-century England. Its pages preserve the texture of London life during the Restoration, including the reign of Charles II, the Great Plague, the Great Fire of London, the Anglo-Dutch wars, and the ordinary habits of a busy, observant, flawed, and fascinating man. For readers of literary quotations, English diaries, British history, Restoration England, London history, and classic literary collections, Quotations from the Diary of Samuel Pepys provides an accessible selection from a major work of English life-writing.