Memoirs of Samuel Pepys, Esq.

London: Henry Colburn, 1828. Leather. Very Good. 9" by 6". Various. A charming five volume set of the second edition of Pepy's renowned memoirs, published for the first time, detailing life in the 1660s. This is a second edition of the first publication of Pepy's diary. Painstakingly written out in standard English by John Smith, it was edited by Lord Braybrooke and published in two volumes in 1825. Unfortunately for Smith, he laboured with his transcription, oblivious to the fact that Pepys had a key to his shorthand system stored on a shelf just above where the diaries were stored; he only discovered this when he had nearly finished the work.Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) was an English politician, bibliophile and author. He kept a diary for ten years between 1660 and 1669 which chronicles life during the English Restoration, and as well as Pepys' personal and day-to-day life, it documents important events such as the Great Plague of London, the Great Fire of London and the Second Dutch War. It was first published in the nineteenth century.A second edition of this work.Volume I is illustrated with four plates, including a frontispiece portrait of the author. Volume II contains two plates, volume III two, volume IV one and volume V two, including one folding plate. Collated, complete.An early edition of an important British memoir, providing a first-hand account of life in the seventeenth century. In a full calf binding. Externally generally smart; some slight rubbing to the heads and tails of the spines, with a large amount of loss to the tail of volume V having been re-gilt. Extremities are a touch bumped. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean, bar a little offsetting to the title pages and the odd spot. Very Good