Annotations and comments

Ruslan has posted 74 annotations/comments since 26 October 2022.

Comments

Third Reading

About Sunday 2 November 1662

Ruslan  •  Link

Having read a little further, there seems to be evidence in this entry: https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

"She [Elizabeth] now read it, and it was so piquant, and wrote in English, and most of it true, of the retiredness of her life, and how unpleasant it was;"

The fact that Elizabeth's letter was written in English is worthy of comment, makes one think that she could speak a second language, i.e. French.

About Saturday 3 January 1662/63

Ruslan  •  Link

> Having nothing now in my mind of trouble in the world, but quite the contrary, much joy, except only the ending of our difference with my uncle Thomas, and the getting of the bills well over for my building of my house here, which however are as small and less than any of the others.

Louise Hudson said: "I take that to mean less than any of the other bills he has to pay."

Another interpretation is that his concerns are minor compared to those of others. To reinforce this point, he then records that Sir W. Penn is "fallen very ill again".

About Tuesday 25 November 1662

Ruslan  •  Link

A SFW version of Dirk's "Failed Armageddon Predictions" on the Wayback machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20051…

@San Diego Sarah: it's realtively straight-forward.
- Find a broken link
- Right click said link and select "Copy Link"
- Go here: https://web.archive.org/
- There is a search box at the top of the page (it says "Enter a URL..."). Paste the link you just copied into here and press "Return"
- You now see a timeline displaying the years in which this page was captured (normally multiple years). Click on the closest year to when the annotation was posted. E.g. if it was posted today in 2005, click on "2005".
- You now see a calendar showing when captures were made in that year (blue dots on the calendar).
- Identify the capture closest to when the link was posted (preferably before) — e.g. if the link was posted in November 2005 and there is a capture from October in the same year, that's the one we want.
- Hover your mouse over the blue dot representing the desired capture. A new menu will pop out.
- Click on the snapshot you want to view. There is normally only one.
- That's it. The archived webpage should now open

About Sunday 2 November 1662

Ruslan  •  Link

Pauline wrote: "They (Samuel & Elizabeth) have been enjoying each other's company these days; and reading together, with her spoken French and his book-learnt French, sounds an enjoyable translation and reading exercise."

Is there any evidence that Elizabeth actually spoke French? Her father came to England ca. 1625 and Elizabeth was born in Devon in 1640. Her mother also appears to have been English.

About Friday 24 October 1662

Ruslan  •  Link

Dirk said (18 years ago):

> I have to agree with Bradford: I do think they were a fairly happy couple. The had their problems of course (being childless, Sam's pre-diary unfaithfulness, occasional quarrels), but who hasn't.

Is his unfaithfulness a documented thing? Or is that just supposition, as he and Elizabeth separated briefly pre-diary?

About Thursday 23 October 1662

Ruslan  •  Link

Sorry, typo.

Il est descendu les escaliers." (He has gone down the stairs) — descendre is transitive

Would love the ability to edit annotations :)

About Thursday 23 October 1662

Ruslan  •  Link

Sasha said:

> In our neighbour Indo-European languages, French and German, "to be" rather than "to have" is still used as the auxilliary verb for the perfect tense of intransitive* verbs;

I'm being nitpicky here, but in French and German, the auxiliary verb "to be" (être in French, sein in German) is used to form the perfect tense for certain verbs, particularly those indicating motion or change of state.

Whether a verb is intransitive or not, is not in itself a guaranteed way to determine which auxilliary verb it uses.

E.g.
"Ich habe geschlafen" (I have slept) — schlafen is intransitive
"Il a couru" (He has run) — courir is intransitive

Or:
"Ich bin ihm gefolgt." (I have followed him) — folgen is transitive
"Il est descendu les escaliers." (He has gone down the stairs) — descendre is intransitive

About Friday 10 October 1662

Ruslan  •  Link

I had ChatGPT summarize today's entry. Here's what it came up with:

Samuel Pepys describes a day where, despite his swollen feet, he travels to Cambridge and stays at a place called the Beare. He encounters a relative, Angier, and joins him for a good meal. He mentions a university event where officers are being elected. With borrowed academic regalia, he participates in the election, voting for various positions, including someone he recognized from his past. He's content with participating in this university activity, something he longed to do.

Later, he visits another relative, Dr. John Pepys, but couldn't find his brother Roger, who was out for work. He travels to Impington for advice from relatives regarding a family matter. Unexpectedly, Roger arrives, and they discuss the family issue. Roger advises reaching a settlement with another relative, Thomas, as legal routes wouldn’t be favorable. Despite the unsettling advice, Pepys appreciates the clarity on how to proceed, ending his day with that understanding before going to bed.

About Tuesday 1 September 1663

Ruslan  •  Link

A little more context.

Australian Susan: "So where was Pembleton for all those weeks when he did not turn up at church?"

Pembleton, the dancing-master, made Pepys very jealous...
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

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More text omitted by the Gutenberg edition: "At noon to the Exchange, where among many merchants abut provisions for the navy; and so home to dinner, where I met Mr. Hunt, his wife and child, and dined with us very merry. And after dinner I to my office with Captain Hickes, who brought my wife some shells, very pretty..."

Capt. William Hickes: https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…