Books

London: Henry Colburn,, 1825. As a diarist he is simply the best there was First edition of perhaps the most famous diary in the English language, a key historical record of Restoration London which remained unprinted for more than 150 years after its original composition. The text was painstakingly deciphered from Pepys's shorthand by a penniless student who did not realise that the manual for the system, Thomas Shelton's Tutor to Tachygraphy (1642), was easily accessible in his own college library. Pepys's diary is the chief source for our knowledge of day-to-day life in Restoration London, but it is much more than just a record of quotidian life: "as a diarist he is simply the best there was, with the good fortune to be close to the centre of momentous events" (ODNB). Two vols, quarto (300 x 230 mm). Contemporary calf, rebacked and recornered, twin brown morocco labels, gilt and blind ruled border to cover, marbled endpapers and edges, later cloth inner hinge supports. Engraved…