Samuel Pepys in 50 Places and Objects

Fifty artefacts, buildings and places that together provide a fascinating insight into the life and legacy of Samuel Pepys.

The life of politician and diarist Samuel Pepys spanned seven decades, meaning he bore witness to many groundbreaking events such as the execution of King Charles I in 1649 and the Glorious Revolution in 1688. His famous diary was written between 1660 and 1669 and provides fascinating detail on the world around him, from the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660 to the plague in 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666. This invaluable record of life in seventeenth-century England offers an intriguing insight into the politics, court life, defence of the realm and commerce of the period as well as day-to-day living. He describes visits to coffee houses, taverns, theatres, bear pits and, with incredible candour, brothels.

Here Pepys life and diary is detailed through the places and objects associated with him. Visit the locations where Pepys resided and worked, the dockyards he inspected at Woolwich and Chatham, as well as the churches where he worshipped and the coffee houses and taverns he frequented. Examine items such as the bills of mortality Pepys read during the plague, his wig, the church steeple from which he observed the Great Fire, and his will.

Full of quirky facts and fascinating illustrations, this book transports you back to seventeenth-century London through places and objects central to Pepys life.