Sue Nicholson
Articles
Sue Nicholson has written 10 articles:
- At home with Mr and Mrs Pepys (23 September 2011)
- The Garden at the Navy Office (2 March 2014)
- Sunday Lunch with Mr and Mrs Pepys (1 April 2014)
- The Invention of Improvement by Paul Slack (29 January 2016)
- Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire, Revolution (9 February 2016)
- Samuel Pepys and the Stolen Diary by M J Lee (19 August 2016)
- Samuel Pepys and His Books by Kate Loveman (13 November 2016)
- Pepys’s Navy: Ships, Men and Warfare 1649-1689 by J. D. Davies (8 March 2018)
- The Closet by Danielle Bobker (18 June 2020)
- Samuel Pepys and the Strange Wrecking of the Gloucester by Nigel Pickford (13 November 2021)
Annotations and comments
Sue Nicholson has posted 37 annotations/comments since 17 November 2011.
Comments
First Reading
About Friday 23 April 1669
sue nicholson • Link
I agree, Jenny. Amusing to see how Sam is ignoring what is clearly a dalliance, at least, between Sheres and Elizabeth. He's turning up pretty much every week at the moment; theatre visits, lunch parties etc.
About Sunday 11 April 1669
sue nicholson • Link
Verelst later painted a notoriously revealing portrait of Nell Gwyn for which Sam may have been more willing to pay the asking price:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cultur…
About Friday 5 March 1668/69
sue nicholson • Link
Mary like you, I find this entry unbearably poignant.
About Tuesday 2 March 1668/69
sue nicholson • Link
It seems that when they acquired a coachman the Pepys also acquired the "little boy" referred to on Feb 8th as narrowly avoiding disaster when he stumbled in getting off the coach at Martin's the bookseller.
About Tuesday 2 March 1668/69
sue nicholson • Link
Indeed, Terry. Also a closet for Elizabeth hung with chintz, an entrance hall with pewter sconces, a house of office on the roof and extensive cellars!
About Tuesday 2 March 1668/69
sue nicholson • Link
This is the best evidence we have about the layout of Pepys' house because it lists the bedrooms (we already know there is a parlour, a kitchen and a very elaborate dining room).
Also note the mention of the coachman who clearly is living with them but oddly omitted elsewhere in the diary.
About At home with Mr and Mrs Pepys
sue nicholson • Link
I've never seen an artist's impression of Pepys' house; it would be lovely to put one together. Any artists out there?
About Friday 22 January 1668/69
sue nicholson • Link
PS I have always wondered what the triangular box on the map chest is for. I am now thinking that it might be the pentograph (parallelogram) purchased recently from Mr Spong. Pictures of early brass examples are exactly that shape.
About Friday 22 January 1668/69
sue nicholson • Link
The mirror which later hung in Pepys' library at York Place is of the heavy, silver-framed variety. If this is the one he is talking about, then this would explain the high price.
http://oldedocuments.webs.com/182…
About Friday 22 January 1668/69
sue nicholson • Link
Terry thank-you so much for posting the link to these paintings. Indeed thank-you for all your helpful and informative links.
To the modern eye it is striking to observe how beautiful the royal palaces look when not surrounded by modern urban sprawl. Greenwich in particular must have been lovely in the 17th century. The park is still there of course, along with what is now the Maritime Museum and the Queen's House but the skyline is now dominated byCanary Wharf and all the other city skyscrapers.
Rye, for those who don't know it, is still a charming little seaside town.
About Wednesday 16 December 1668
sue nicholson • Link
Will Hewer moved into lodgings on Crutched Friars, a couple of minutes' walk away, in November 1663. There was a falling out between Sam and Will, who he accused of "corrupting the maids by his idle talk and carriage" (31.10.1663). A bit rich in the light of Sam's own behaviour.
About Interview on Irish radio
sue nicholson • Link
Well done, Phil. You did a great job. Found myself nodding in agreement throughout.
"Pepys isn't always easy to like." How true !
About Wednesday 9 December 1668
sue nicholson • Link
Looking at the Ogilby and Morgan map of1676 as indexed by John Fisher and Roger Cline in the "A-Z of Restoration London", there was a Bull in just round the corner from Mr Spong's chambers. You go up Chancery Lane, Right into High Holborn and the the Bull Inn Yard is first inn on your left.
Time for a quick pint and use the bathroom then back down Chancery Lane to Fleet St and a meal at Hercules Pillars.
As a Yorkshire woman I'm disappointed Sam didn't record the conversation with the landlord !
"The house of office? Aye, sithee, it's just through there sir. Now, will that be one pint of ale or two?"
About Wednesday 9 December 1668
sue nicholson • Link
There was a Bull Inn on High Holborn (Ogilby and Morgan's map 1676) and there are plenty of examples in the diary of Sam using the "house of office" at an inn when needed. So the route is: leave Mr Spong's chambers, coach goes up to the top of Chancery Lane, right into High Holborn and the Bull is the first inn on the left. Into Bull Inn yard, quick jug of ale and visit to facilities behind inn then back down Chancery Lane to Hercules Pillars on Fleet St.
Speaking as a Yorkshire woman I'm disappointed Sam didn't record exactly what the landlord said.
"Excuse me, my man, could my wife and I use the bathroom?"
" Aye, sithee. Will that be one pint of ale or two?"
About End of the diary in London, May 2012
sue nicholson • Link
What a lovely idea, Phil. As I have said before I think the idea of a Pepys blog was absolutely inspired and it has been a pleasure to see how all the links you and others have added, have turned it into a fantastic resource for anyone interested in Pepys or the social history of 17th century. Well done indeed and I will look forward to a Pepys Dinner on 26th May.
If we do go for a Pepys walk I have some interesting resources to share about the Seething Lane site.
Many thanks again for your hard work, determination and vision in making this site the phenomenon that it is.
About Tuesday 1 December 1668
sue nicholson • Link
There certainly was a coachman, because on 2nd March 1669 when Pepys had a house party, the coachman had to give up his bed to accommodate the visitors.
I agree it is most odd that his name is not mentioned !
About Monday 16 November 1668
sue nicholson • Link
According to Liza Picard ("Restoration London", Phoenix Press 1997) you could get a pint of oysters for a shilling (12pence).