The Diary of John Evelyn

John Evelyn (1620-1706) is best remembered for Sylva , his magnum opus, and his Diary .

The manuscript of the Diary was passed down through the family to Lady Evelyn, widow of the diarist's great-great-grandson, who 'did not regard it as of sufficient importance for publication; and, except for an accident, it might have been cut up for dress patterns, or served to light fires'.

Over a century after Evelyn's death, the Diary at last saw publication for the first time.

Alongside Pepy's diary, Evelyn's is as well known now as anything else written in their time.

Evelyn was a connoisseur of many things, including architecture, painting, music, coins and sermons; he was renowned for his practical knowledge on horticulture and arboricutlture, and he was one of the original Fellows of the Royal Society.

Alongside various public commissions in the Court of Charles II, he wrote on the varied topics that interested him, whether coins, fashion, trees or suggesting ways of turning London into a smokeless zone.

His Diary begins with an account of his early life and travels in Europe and continues to almost the day of his death in 1706. In addition to his own jottings of events, Evelyn drew on contemporary newspapers and pamphlets.

A less personal record than Pepys' diary it nevertheless remains a very valuable source for English history in the seventeenth century.

Editing and annotating from the previous editions of Bray and Forster, Austin Dobson has helpfully illustrated this edition with useful maps, portraits and views.