Samuel Pepys kept a diary for almost ten
years, from January 1660 to May 1669. It is considered one of the most important
diaries in the English language, offering a detailed account of critical
historic events but also an insight into daily life in 17th century London.
Alongside his analysis of political and national events, Pepys is remarkably
frank and open about his personal life, including numerous extramarital
affairs, described in some detail. The diary
opens on 1 January 1660. This first entry sets the tone for the diary as a
whole, combining intimate personal detail with discussion of the current
political situation less than two years after the death of Oliver Cromwell. Pepys’
diary is particularly well known for bringing alive the London of his
time.
If there is one thing that people know about Samuel Pepys, it’s that he witnessed and chronicled the Great Fire of London which devastated the capital in the late summer of 1666. Together with the epidemic of bubonic plague that hit the city the previous year, the Great Fire had an unimaginable impact on London and its people. The fire, which broke out in the house of the King’s baker, Thomas Farynor, early in the morning of Sunday 2 September, decimated four-fifths of the city: over 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, 52 Livery Company Halls, the Guildhall, the Royal Exchange and St Paul’s Cathedral. In the words of Pepys, Medieval London was now ‘all in dust’ yet would rise from the ashes in spectacular style.
