Samuel Pepys and Slaves
The London Review of Books has a review by Fara Dabhoiwala of a book by Simon Newman called Freedom Seekers: Escaping from Slavery in Restoration London which heavily features Samuel Pepys.
Site News: Pepys in the media
Dr Kate Loveman interviews author Deborah Swift
As part of her current research project, Reimagining the Restoration: Samuel Pepys’s Diary and popular history for the 21st Century, Dr Kate Loveman has interviewed two authors: Catherine Johnson author of historical novels for young adults and children, set between 1660 and 1832, and Deborah Swift, author of novels including three based on women featured in Pepys’ diary, Pleasing Mr Pepys (2017), A Plague on Mr Pepys (2018), and Entertaining Mr Pepys (2019).
'Samuel Pepys and His Books' out in paperback
You may remember our review a few years ago of Kate Loveman’s book Samuel Pepys and His Books. The only problem with the book at the time was the very high cost, £81. Today the paperback has been released and, while it’s not cheap, it’s cheaper at £30.
I think this is only available in the UK, as I can’t see it on Amazon.com. Do post in the comments if you find it available elsewhere.
New book: Walking Pepys's London
There’s a new book about to come out by Jacky Colliss Harvey, called Walking Pepys’s London. The publisher has offered readers of this site 20% off plus free UK delivery if you order it from their website using the coupon code PEPYSDIARY. Here’s the blurb:
Did the Puritans ban Christmas dinner?
The History of Parliament blog has a new post today about how Christmas was celebrated, or not, in the mid-17th century, which users Pepys’ diary’s one of its examples:
A paper about Pepys's eye problems
David James Harries recently got in touch to mention a paper he wrote for The Journal of Dry Eye and Ocular Surface Disease, entitled ‘Pepys’s Eyes: A Modern Answer to an Old Conundrum?’. Here’s the abstract:
'The Closet' by Danielle Bobker
Readers of this site may be interested in a new book, The Closet: The Eighteenth-Century Architecture of Intimacy by Danielle Bobker, which looks at this room as it was written about by various authors, including Samuel Pepys. Given how interested Pepys was in improving and enjoying his closet, it sounds interesting.
Pepys: the Covid Diaries
A couple of months ago I mentioned a couple of modern versions of Samuel Pepys recounting their experiences of living through the age of the coronavirus. If you’re looking for more, here’s Samuel Pepys: The Covid Diaries.
Samuel Pepys and the virus
There’s been a parody Samuel Pepys twitter account running for a while at @Pepys_Diaries. It’s a modern-day take on Pepys, imagining him writing in the modern world. Unfortunately one of the account’s recent tweets, drawing parallels between the Plague and 2020’s coronavirus, has been quoted out of context and spread around as if it’s a real excerpt from the diary. The tweet:
Interview in the Samuel Pepys Club newsletter
The Samuel Pepys Club has a newsletter and the March 2020 issue contains an interview with me about this site, aimed at people who don’t know much about it. The interview is a little out of date — it’s from nearly two years ago — but, er, if you’re one of the club’s 140 members then you can read it.