The Curious World of Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn

The diarist Samuel Pepys is an iconic figure whose descriptions of daily life in London in the 1660s still strike a remarkably modern note. Now, Margaret Willes looks at Pepys from a fresh angle, examining the celebrated man through the lens of his long friendship with John Evelyn, the English diarist who will mark the 400th anniversary of his birthday in 2020.
 
Pepys was raucous and impulsive while Evelyn was a genteel aesthete, but—brought together by their work to aid distressed sailors—the two shared an inexhaustible curiosity for life. Willes nimbly explores them through a constellation of their mutual interests, from music and theatre to gardening and, of course, their books and libraries. Peopled with well-known figures from the era such as Christopher Wren and Nell Gwynn, this compelling double portrait is a delightful chronicle of two extraordinary men living in a time of war, catastrophe, and revolution.


Margaret Willes, formerly publisher at the National Trust, is author of several books, including Reading Matters and The Gardens of the British Working Class. She lives in London.
 

“Two centuries on, this scholarly and readable book brings the two men together again. The result, the biographical equivalent of a buddy film, is both entertaining and unexpectedly revealing about the extraordinary times they lived in.”—Andrew Taylor, Times

"Ms. Willes brings Evelyn and Pepys fully and vibrantly to life. She makes the reader feel their foibles, their virtues, their pleasure and their pain; and on almost every page there is a detail to be thought about, recorded, relayed. It is a fitting tribute to two figures who so cherished curiosity—and who did so much to contribute to the curiosity of their age."
—Economist

“Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn were two great friends and lauded diariests who have informed—and transformed—our understanding of the 17th century. . . . Writer Margaret Willes relates grand sights and the minutiae of their age, giving each man his equal due while admiring their unique meeting of the minds.”—British Heritage Travel

“Drawing deeply on the diaries of Pepys and Evelyn, as well as on archival research, Willes skillfully probes the diarists’ wide-ranging reflections on and often strong opinions about Restoration England. Although Pepys’s earthy reports . . . have long been anthologized, Evelyn’s less colorful accounts of the same events are comparatively obscure. Willes corrects this oversight in her thoughtful readings of both men’s diaries while also tracing the deep friendship that grew between them in spite of their many differences. . . . Her splendid book has performed the yeoman’s work of recovering Evelyn and his diary for us.”—Publishers Weekly

"This is a well-researched, illuminating and enjoyable book. Evelyn and Pepys lived through some of the most dramatic events in English history: regicide, plague, the Great Fire and revolution. These great diarists have left us unique and valuable insights into their world, when advances were being made in scientific thought, gardening, medicine, and international trade, despite the perils of the times. This book captures that energy and weaves details drawn from the writings of both men into a colourful and convincing panorama of seventeenth-century London." -- Dr. Margarette Lincoln, Visiting Research Fellow at Goldsmiths, University of London and Curator Emeritus at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich 

'Margaret Willes paints an increasingly detailed - and always fascinating - picture of seventeenth-century London. Both Samuel Pepys's frank Diary and John Evelyn's anxiously tidied account of the first years of the Restoration remain vivid today. Willes's book is a 'must' for anyone interested in people, or London, or the growth of society after the King returned.'
     -- Liza Picard, author of Restoration London.

'Glorious! Not only does Margaret Willes shed bright new light on two of the 17th century's most endearing characters, she recreates the worlds they inhabited with remarkable elegance and clarity.'
            -- Adrian Tinniswood, author of His Invention So Fertile: A Life of Christopher Wren.