Welcome to the Home Page of  the

SAMUEL PEPYS CLUB

Whether you found this site while casually browsing the Internet or were specifically looking for information about the Club or about Pepys himself, we hope that you find the information in our pages interesting. Pepys was a complex and extraordinary man, knowledge of whom only came into the public domain at the beginning of the 19th century, following the publication of the diary of Pepys’ friend, John Evelyn, in which were numerous references to Pepys.

But of course the diary covers only nine brief years of Pepys’ life. Exploring the many historic documents about him in various archives around the country, mainly in the Pepys Library and in the Bodleian Library has revealed far more about the man, his life and times.

The Matthews and Latham edition of the diary has given a depth and understanding  of the diary period which was missing from the earlier editions. It was published over a period of 13 years from 1970 to 1983 but involved research carried out for far longer than that.

Foremost among the books which have covered his life in its entirety, are the series of 4 written by the late Sir Arthur Bryant in the 1930s,  “The Man in the Making”, “The Years of Peril”, “The Saviour of the Navy” and “Pepys and the Revolution”.

Richard Ollard’s book “Pepys - A Biography”, which he published in 1974, took a closer look at some aspects of Pepys’ character which not been studied in depth up to that time.

In 1926 a different type of book about Pepys, containing a selection of diary entries was produced by O.F.Morshead and illustrated beautifully by Ernest H. Shepard, who had also illustrated the Christopher Robin books by A.A.Milne.

Claire Tomalin’s masterpiece “The Unequalled Self” which she published in 2003 has become a best seller, not least because of a wealth of additional information about his entire life, also an exploration of his attitude to those around him and the times in which he lived, which she has included following extensive research.

There are of course many more books and documents about Pepys available for purchase, often in bookshops which specialise in historic, rare and out-of-print editions.

Many other websites have information about Pepys and links to some of them are accessible via the external links button on the left of each page in this site.      Each of the top four pages in this website explores a different aspect of his life and his diary. Those in the bottom half give details of the Samuel Pepys Club, its history, composition and an insight into some of the activities which it undertakes as well as details of the two charitable trusts which it oversees.

We welcome enquiries about Pepys or about the Club and these should be addressed to the Secretary through the link below. As the Secretary receives many requests from children who are studying Pepys as part of their schoolwork we have included a page for them which we hope will be helpful to them but if the answer is not there email the Secretary who will be delighted to help.