1827 Memoirs of John Evelyn, Esq. F.R.S., Author of the "Sylva," &c. &c.; Comprising His Diary, From 1641 to 1705-6, And a Selection of His Familiar Letters. To Which is Subjoined, the Private Correspondence Between King Charles I and Sir Edward Nicholas; Also Between Sir Edward Hyde, Afterwards Earl of Clarendon, and Sir Richard Browne, Ambassador to the Court of France, in the Time of King Charlies I and the Usurpation.

Description

Folding Plates, Illustrated, Leather Binding, Original Binding

With 10 plates in total across the five volumes, including folding genealogical plates and a frontispiece to each. Collated, complete.

The diaries of British writer and gardener John Evelyn, accompanied by his personal correspondence to figures as notable as King Charles I. These diaries and letters go far in illuminating the social life, manners, and politics of the day. 

Covering the years 1641-1706, a first hand account is provided of such events as the civil war, Great Plague, Great Fire of London, execution of King Charles I and the rise of Oliver Cromwell. Nevertheless, in the years since, Evelyn's diaries have been overshadowed by the chronicle of seventeenth century life provided by Samuel Pepys, whose work is limited to the comparably short period of 1660-1669.

These diaries remained an unpublished manuscript until 1818, when antiquary William Bray published the work. This is the second edition, and significantly enlarged from the original. The first edition to feature the appendix of correspondences.