The Curious World of Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn


Book Description

An intimate portrait of two pivotal Restoration figures during one of the most dramatic periods of English history Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn are two of the most celebrated English diarists. They were also extraordinary men and close friends. This first full portrait of that friendship transforms our understanding of their times. Pepys was earthy and shrewd, while Evelyn was a genteel aesthete, but both were drawn to intellectual pursuits. Brought together by their work to alleviate the plight of sailors caught up in the Dutch wars, they shared an inexhaustible curiosity for life and for the exotic. Willes explores their mutual interests—diary-keeping, science, travel, and a love of books—and their divergent enthusiasms, Pepys for theater and music, Evelyn for horticulture and garden design. Through the richly documented lives of two remarkable men, Willes revisits the history of London and of England in an age of regicide, revolution, fire, and plague to reveal it also as a time of enthralling possibility.







John Evelyn


Book Description

The great English writer and gardener John Evelyn (1620–1706) kept a diary all his life. Today, this diary is considered an invaluable source of information on more than fifty years of social, cultural, religious, and political life in seventeenth-century England. Evelyn’s work is often overshadowed by the literary contributions of his contemporary and friend, Samuel Pepys. This new biography changes that. John Dixon Hunt takes a fresh look at the life and work of one of England’s greatest diarists, focusing particularly on Evelyn’s “domesticity.” The book explores Evelyn’s life at home, and perhaps even more importantly, his domestication of foreign ideas and practices in England. During the English Civil Wars, Evelyn traveled extensively throughout Europe, taking in ideas on the management of estate design while abroad to apply them in England. Evelyn’s greatest accomplishment was the import of European garden art to the UK, a feat Hunt puts into context alongside a range of Evelyn’s social and ethical thinking. Illustrated with visual material from Evelyn’s time and from his own pen, the book is an ideal introduction to a hugely important figure in the shaping of early modern Britain.




John Evelyn


Book Description

"This new biography ... is the first to make full use of Evelyn's huge unpublished archive deposited at the British Library in 1995. This crucial source evokes a broader and richer picture of Evelyn, his life and his friendships, than permitted by his own celebrated diaries."--Dust jacket.




John Evelyn and His World


Book Description

An impressive biography of the celebrated Restoration diarist John Evelyn. Perfect for readers of Claire Tomalin, Margaret Willes and Peter Ackroyd. John Evelyn (1620-1706) was a man with an insatiable curiosity. A keen reader and avid traveller, Evelyn had an unquenchable thirst for new knowledge in nature, science and the arts. He wrote and published on a huge range of topics, including theology, music and architecture, although today he is principally recognised as a pioneer of English gardening and forestry, his Sylva, or a Discourse of Forest Trees bringing him fame in his lifetime. A friend of Samuel Pepys, Robert Boyle and Christopher Wren, and patron of Grinling Gibbons, Evelyn was in high favour at the court of King Charles II and a valued member of the Royal Society, both of which presented curiosities to Evelyn's observant eye and vivid pen. He lived through turbulent times, writing in his Diaries of the Anglo-Dutch Wars, the plague, the Great Fire of London, the Popish Plot and the Glorious Revolution. Historian John Bowle draws upon Evelyn's many and varied writings to bring to life the personality of John Evelyn in the context of his times, producing a fascinating and rewarding picture of the man and his world. John Evelyn and His World is an authoritative literary biography of one of seventeenth-century England's great diarists. 'an entertaining, readable account' The American Historical Review




John Evelyn's "Elysium Britannicum" and European Gardening


Book Description

John Evelyn (1620-1706) was a pivotal figure in 17th-century intellectual life in England. The contributors approach him and his work from diverse disciplines: architectural and intellectual history and histories of science, agriculture, gardens, and literature. They present the "Elysium Britannicum" as a central document of late European humanism.




Particular Friends


Book Description

Intriguing insight into the minds of two exceptional men whose contribution to our understanding of 17th-century England is incalculable. SPECTATOR Pepys and Evelyn first came to know each other during the Second Dutch War (1664-7). As the plague raged in the London they loved, they were both preoccupied with the business of casualties from the war, Pepys as Clerk of the Acts, and Evelyn as a Commissioner for Sick and Wounded Seamen and Prisoners of War. Nearly forty years later they were still corresponding, exchanging details of remedies for the afflictions of old age. Their friendship, and their relations with others, as recorded in their famous diaries and letters, provide an exceptional opportunity to witness life at the heart of Restoration England. This book includes every letter which could be located (some of which have been lost for more than a hundred years), and the complete text of each has been newly transcribed and fully annotated. Evelyn and Pepys are revealed in fresh dimensions as many details of their lives and friendship emerge which go unmentioned, or are barely alluded to, in the diaries. GUY DE LA BEDOYERE, historian, archaeologist and broadcaster, has also published an edition of Evelyn's Diary and a collection of pieces by Evelyn, The Writings of John Evelyn.




Sylva


Book Description

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.




Acetaria


Book Description

This book is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS series. The creators of this series are united by passion for literature and driven by the intention of making all public domain books available in printed format again - worldwide. At tredition we believe that a great book never goes out of style. Several mostly non-profit literature projects provide content to tredition. To support their good work, tredition donates a portion of the proceeds from each sold copy. As a reader of a TREDITION CLASSICS book, you support our mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion.