The Confessions of Samuel Pepys - by Guy de la Bédoyère (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A remarkable collection of the most personal aspects of Samuel Pepys' diaries, in celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of their publication.

The Diary of Samuel Pepys is the most celebrated personal journal in the English language.

Pepys's candid revelations as he forged his career as a civilian naval official in Restoration London have fascinated readers ever since the first selection was published in 1825. This book focuses on Pepys's controversial private life and is geared for a contemporary readership by charting his varied and complex relationships with women. These included his wife, Elizabeth--whom he both loved and treated abominably--their domestic servants, the mistresses whom he secretly visited in Westminster and Deptford, the great ladies of the court whom he ogled, and the actresses and other female friends whose company he delighted in and combined with casual flirting and petting. All these he recounted in shorthand, often disguising the more salacious occasions in his own cryptic Franco-Latino polyglot or with a primitive system of extraneous consonants.

Most of these controversial entries were excised from nineteenth century editions, but all are featured here in completely new transcriptions--with Pepys's secret code translated--following fresh forensic examination from the original shorthand diary. The Confessions of Samuel Pepys also reveals how all previous transcribers of the diary, as well as many of his biographers, have deliberately avoided this controversial element of Pepys's reputation.

Review Quotes

"A brilliantly entertaining and revealing new transcription of Pepys's diary."--Claire Tomalin, bestselling author of The Young H. G. Wells and Charles Dickens

"A valuable, thought-provoking investigation of Pepys's writing."--Kate Loveman, author of The Strange History of Samuel Pepys's Diary

"By compiling, translating, and commenting on the sections of the diary that focus on Pepys's personal life, he presents a powerful case for the prosecution. This portrait of a deeply flawed man enhances our understanding of one of England's great diarists."--Katherine Harvey, The Times (London)

"Never less than compellingly readable. Adds so much to a fuller understanding of the man himself."-- "Irish Independent"

"This newly explicit view of Pepys does not negate the continuing value of his diary--which remains a magnificent historical resource--but from now on it will be impossible to go to it in a state of innocence, let alone denial."-- "The Guardian"

"This portrait of a deeply flawed man enhances our understanding of one of England's great diarists."-- "The Times (London)"

About the Author

Guy de la Bédoyère is an historian and author with numerous books to his credit. One of very few authors with the ability to read and use the system of shorthand used by the diarist Samuel Pepys (1633-1703), he edited the letters exchanged by Pepys with the diarist John Evelyn (1620-1706) in Particular Friends: The Correspondence of Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn, covering their 38-year association and friendship. He has also produced the only edition of Pepys's correspondence to be published in modern times in The Letters of Samuel Pepys. Guy lives in Britain.