Monday 11 June 1660
Betimes to my Lord. Extremely much people and business. So with him to Whitehall to the Duke.
Back with him by coach and left him in Covent Garden. I back to Will’s and the Hall to see my father. Then to the Leg in King Street with Mr. Moore, and sent for L’Impertinent to dinner with me. After that with Mr. Moore about Privy Seal business. To Mr. Watkins, so to Mr. Crew’s. Then towards my father’s met my Lord and with him to Dorset House to the Chancellor. So to Mr. Crew’s and saw my Lord at supper, and then home, and went to see Mrs. Turner, and so to bed.
11 Annotations
First Reading
Nix • Link
Betimes --
"2. spec. At an early hour, early in the morning." OED
Paul Brewster • Link
A little punctuation from L&M may help
After that, with Mr. Moore about Privy Seale business to Mr. Watkins. So to Mr. Crews. Then towards my father's; met my Lord and with him to Dorset-house to the Chancellor.
Pepys and Moore were to act as Mountagu’s deputies in the Privy Seal Office where Watkins was an underclerk.
Glyn • Link
If Dorset House was where the map says it was, then it was next to his father's house in Salisbury Court. In other words, Pepys was going towards his father's house and met Lord Montagu going in the same direction.
If his much-loved aunt also lived in Salisbury Court, then he was visiting the place several times. (I'm just about to leave work and travel past there by nightbus - if they're still there I'll mention your names. And so to bed.)
Eric Walla • Link
One thing we're missing with these first entries back in London is the ability to make a full comparison between the Pre-Restoration Sam and the Sam of Business and Importance.
While he notes how he is seeing (or attending to) many of the same people, we don't know what changes have occurred in his pub life, his relations to Mrs. Jem (where is she at this time?), even the situation of Jane Birch (is she still in evidence in their household?) or his wife's little dog.
Maybe I'm being a bit too cavalier, but this kind of comparison, and his notes on the reactions of those close to him, are more important to me than, say, meeting the King in the park or another encounter with L'Impertinent.
Nix • Link
Patience, patience --
Those things will come.
We're in an unusual stretch, where all we have are his notes. Things WILL get more interesting -- the diary's reputation would not have lasted 175 years solely on the strength of the first five months of 1660.
helena murphy • Link
The Sam of business is not yet the Sam of importance.The bare mention of people and places indicates the state of his subconscious , the inner tension that he feels as to his position in the new scheme of things in Restoration London. The lack of verbalisation shows his anxiety. The inner Sam is every bit as interesting as the personable ,sociable man whom we have come to know since January.This makes him, paradoxically ,even more human to us than before.
Nix • Link
I disagree --
I don't think we should read more into this than is actually there. The bare mention of people and places does not indicate inner tension, and lack of verbalization does not show anxiety. This is essentially just his APPOINTMENT CALENDAR, that's all.
Refer back to Paul Brewster's annotation several days ago: "According to L&M, the next 10 days (June 8 - 17) of diary entries are taken from rough notes and not from the normal careful transcriptions. There's a lot going on and SP doesn't seem to have enough time to give the diary his full attention.”
I think that all we can say it “shows” is that he was too busy to keep up with his diary.
mw • Link
For Glyn: A heartfelt thanks, I'm punting on behalf of all of us!
Helena Murphy and Nix: Not too sure of the "immediacy" of both your observations. Pepys' hesitancy, could be due to time, or due to the changed circumstances not producing mental "reconciliation". Either way the observation stands. My suspicion, Pepys is unreconciled to his new position (both personal and social). It will be interesting to see how Pepys handles similar circumstances in the future.
Eric Walla • Link
Yes, patience. Good advice.
I myself would probably attribute the overly lean messages to more mundane circumstances: he probably left his diary among his shipboard belongings and they haven't been delivered as yet. So he jots himself notes, but then is too busy to turn them into more complete entries once he gets back to the diary proper.
Second Reading
Dick Wilson • Link
These are rough notes, only a bit more expansive than recent entries. Sam is very busy. It looks like a case of: "You didn't miss a thing while you were gone. It's all on your desk waiting for you, stacked in piles marked 'Immediate', 'Urgent' and 'Overdue'. "
Matt Newton • Link
Definitely a change over the last few days. Ties in with the notes being pasted into to diary. And agree with above comments; too busy to write them up and love the idea that he had left the diary on his ship.
Patience required folks. Sam is soon back to his old self.