Thursday 21 November 1661

In the morning again at looking over my last night’s papers, and by and by comes Mr. Moore, who finds that my papers may do me much good. He staid and dined with me, and we had a good surloyne of rost beefe, the first that ever I had of my own buying since I kept house; and after dinner he and I to the Temple, and there showed Mr. Smallwood my papers, who likes them well, and so I left them with him, and went with Mr. Moore to Gray’s Inn to his chamber, and there he shewed me his old Camden’s “Britannica”, which I intend to buy of him, and so took it away with me, and left it at St. Paul’s Churchyard to be bound, and so home and to the office all the afternoon; it being the first afternoon that we have sat, which we are now to do always, so long as the Parliament sits, who this day have voted the King 120,000l.1 to be raised to pay his debts. And after the office with Sir W. Batten to the Dolphin, and drank and left him there, and I again to the Temple about my business, and so on foot home again and to bed.

29 Annotations

First Reading

dirk  •  Link

"his old Camden's ‘Britannica’, which I intend to buy of him, and so took it away with me, and left it at St. Paul's Churchyard to be bound”

Sam has done something similar some time ago (I couldn’t locate the entry) with another book he bought. Is it possible that he has the books for his personal library bound in special “personalized” bindings (did such a thing exist in the 17th c ?), or is he just having a damaged binding repaired?

vicente  •  Link

You buy the basic book from the printer then take it to the bookbinder for your favourite cover to match your collection

Mary  •  Link

"which we are now to do always"

this is going to put a bit of a crimp in Sam's theatre-going during Parliamentary sittings.

Xjy  •  Link

Wow
Hey Vic! Was that sentence really you!?
A first... ;-)

vmr  •  Link

Hello! I'm a new reader of the diary and I'm wondering what the 'l (in italics)' after the amount stands for? Pounds? Shillings? (Shillings would probably be too little, but the sum of 1,200,000 pounds sounds like a king's ransom :J Also, what would the amount (whether shillings or pounds) convert to in today's money?

Mary  •  Link

Yes, pounds.

And it is indeed a very large sum ... but Charles is a king. For conversion tables, look at 'Money' (and much else besides) in the Background Information list.

gerry  •  Link

According to Economic History Services over £116,000,000.

David A. Smith  •  Link

"Mr. Moore, who finds that my papers may do me much good"
Gotta feel good at finding helpful evidence, as confirmed by one's lawyer. This should also boost Sam's confidence as it's yet another confirmation that when he studies a problem and reaches a conclusion on his own, the experts will endorse it.

John in Chicago  •  Link

Pepys took an interest in his book bindings and the diary is an important source for the identification of individual binders working in the period. For a discussion see Howard M. Nixon's *Catalogue of the Pepys Library at Magdalene College Cambridge Volume VI Bindings. Compiled by the Late Howard M. Nixon.* Woodbridge, Suffolk: D. S. Brewer. (D. S. Brewer is an imprint of Boydell and Brewer, Ltd.), 1984. Fifty-two plates, some in color.
Link: go to this link and enter the keyword "Pepys" to have a look at one.
http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/bookb…

Alan Bedford  •  Link

"According to Economic History Services over £116,000,000.”

For the currency-impaired (such as myself), that converts to about $215.6 million US or $275 million Australian.

Glyn  •  Link

"we had a good surloyne of rost beefe, the first that ever I had of my own buying since I kept house"

Why?

Does he mean: that he has been too poor to buy sirloin of beef? (unlikely); that he hasn't needed to before because he's always being given gifts of it from contractors, or he can acquire meat from the naval stores? or has Elizabeth finally worked out how to use the oven?

As I recall, Elizabeth bought an extremely complicated range several months ago which included a clockwork spit to roast meat.

Glyn  •  Link

Using the Search Engine

I'd just like to say how great this page's search engine is. For example, if you remember somewhat made a good comment but you forget on what day.

Go to the Search box at the top right corner of this page and click on HELP.

Tick or check all of the boxes in the SECTION row.

Then tick or check BOTH in the INCLUDE: line (this is important, otherwise it defaults to "Entries" and won't work)

and then enter the words in the TEXT box.

For example, enter Nix or David A. Smith or your own name.

For gawd's sake, whatever you do, don't enter "Vincente" or the whole thing will explode!

guye ffalkes  •  Link

'For gawd's sake’, I’ll change me nom to Guye FFalkes.

guye ffalkes  •  Link

nought said about monies but only those with good clean living should be in town. from House of Lauds "...To let them know, that the Lords do agree to join with them, in attending the King, to move Him to issue out a Proclamation for sending out of this Town all suspicious and loose Persons; and that their Lordships have appointed Six Lords for this Purpose; and their Lordships will send to His Majesty, to know His Pleasure concerning the Time when they shall wait upon Him...."

From: British History Online
Source: House of Lords Journal Volume 11: 21 November 1661. Journal of the House of Lords: volume 11, ().
URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…
Date: 22/11/2004

guye ffalkes  •  Link

Re: jobs: to-day we have joined together as many functions into a single group under one roof or CEO/Man Dir.: then every artesian was his own master once he had paid the price of working for scraps, Now we are no longer a nation of shop keepers or owner businesses, all are kept under the thumb of credit card. At least then he was protected from excessive competition from other greedy ones by a distance of 7 miles [note it be at least a shanks ponie ride or 28 fathoms ] except in London town where there was a tendencie to gather like birds in the local rookery.

guye ffalkes  •  Link

'L' = libra a roman pound or 12 oz [12 unicae or 72 sextulae.] weight. as for the 'd' denararius 0r 10 asses of silver][ s= solidus [shilling ]

Second Reading

Bill  •  Link

Glyn said: "I'd just like to say how great this page's search engine is. For example, if you remember [someone] made a good comment but you forget on what day."

This iteration of the diary doesn't seem to have a search engine, at least I haven't found it, perhaps because the entire diary is now available. But Google will substitute. Just enter "pepysdiary" with the quote marks and no space as part of the search.

Bill  •  Link

"A mistake. According to the journals, 1,200,000l."

To paraphrase an American senator: A million here, a million there and pretty soon you're talking real money. (Well, perhaps he said it: http://www.dirksencenter.org/prin… )

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

The spelling of sirloin as surloyne is interesting, it corroborates the theory that the origin is from the old French "surlonge". It's also "rost" beef. I would love to hear how Sam actually pronounced these words.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sirl…

Robin Peters  •  Link

Interesting change of name for Vincente. As a reader on a daily basis for a second time I remember his changes in the past. The name changed but the style remained. Is it OK to ask if the old fella is still with us and maybe lurking somewhere?

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"he and I to the Temple, and there showed Mr. Smallwood my papers, who likes them well"

William Smallwood of the Middle Temple, Trice's lawyer. (L&M note) These papers are part of Pepys's proceedings in Chancery with Thomas Trice.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"he shewed me his old Camden’s “Britannica”, which I intend to buy of him"

William Camden, Britannia: first published in Latin in 1586, several times reissued; translated by Philemon Holland in 1610. The only copy in the PL is Edmund Gibson's 1695 edition in English (PL 2807), which contains contributions by Pepys on the dockyards on the dockyards and arsenals of the Royal Navy: cf. Times Lit. Supp., 3 May 1934, p. 322. (L&M footnote)

Kyle in San Diego  •  Link

What do you think this means exactly: "it being the first afternoon that we have sat, which we are now to do always, so long as the Parliament sits," -- does he have to sit in Parliament and watch what is going on?

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"What do you think this means exactly: "it being the first afternoon that we have sat, which we are now to do always, so long as the Parliament sits," -- does he have to sit in Parliament and watch what is going on?"

The Navy Board will now change its sittings from mornings to afternoons, so that any MP on the Board (Pepys is not one, but Penn and Batten were).

Kyle in San Diego  •  Link

Thanks, I appreciate that. Btw, do you know where S's father lived in 1662?

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