Pepys, Samuel

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin

(1633-1703)

Diarist, s. of John P., a London tailor, but of good family and connected with Sir E. Montague, afterwards Earl of Sandwich, was ed. at St. Paul's School and at Camb. After leaving the Univ. he entered the household of Montagu, who became his life long patron. He held various Government posts, including that of Surveyor-General of the Victualling Office, in which he displayed great administrative ability and reforming zeal, and in 1672 he became Sec. of the Admiralty. After being imprisoned in the Tower on a charge in connection with the Popish plot, and deprived of his office, he was in 1686 again appointed Sec. of the Admiralty, from which, however, he was dismissed at the Revolution. Thereafter he lived in retirement chiefly at Clapham. P. was a man of many interests, combining the characters of the man of business, man of pleasure, and virtuoso, being skilled in music and a collector of books, manuscripts, and pictures, and he was Pres. of the Royal Society for two years. He wrote Memoirs of the Royal Navy (1690), but his great legacy to literature is his unique and inimitable Diary, begun January 1, 1660, and coming down to May 31, 1669, when the failure of his sight prevented its further continuance. As an account by an eye-witness of the manners of the Court and of society it is invaluable, but it is still more interesting as, perhaps, the most singular example extant of unreserved self-revelation--all the foibles, peccadilloes, and more serious offences against decorum of the author being set forth with the most relentless naïveté and minuteness, it was written in a cypher or shorthand, which was translated into long-hand by John Smith in 1825, and ed. by Lord Braybrooke, with considerable excisions. Later and fuller ed. have followed. P. left his books, MSS., and collections to Magdalene Coll., Camb., where they are preserved in a separate library.

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Easton's Bible Dictionary
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Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Butler, Samuel
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Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Clarke, Samuel
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Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Daniel, Samuel
(1562-1619) Poet, s. of a music master, was b. near Taunton, and ed. at Oxf., but did not graduate....

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Foote, Samuel
(1720-1777) Actor and dramatist, b. at Truro of a good family, and ed. at Oxf., succeeded by his ex...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Johnson, Samuel
1) (1649-1703) Political writer, sometimes called "the Whig" to distinguish him from his great name...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Lover, Samuel
(1797-1868) Song-writer and novelist, was a painter of portraits, chiefly miniatures. He produced a...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Phillips, Samuel
(1814-1854) Novelist, of Jewish descent, studied for the Church at Göttingen and Camb., but his f. ...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Pordage, Samuel
(1633-1691?) Poet, s. of a clergyman in Berks, ed. at Merchant Taylor's School, studied law at Linc...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Purchas, Samuel
(1575?-1626) Compiler of travels, b. at Thaxton, and ed. at Camb., took orders, and held various be...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Richardson, Samuel
(1689-1761) Novelist, s. of a joiner, was b. at Derby. His f. had intended him for the Church, but ...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Rogers, Samuel
(1763-1855) Poet, s. of a banker in London, received a careful private education, and entered the b...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Rutherford, Samuel
(1600?-1661) Theologian and controversialist, b. at Nisbet, Roxburghshire, ed. at Edin. Univ., wher...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Smiles, Samuel
(1812-1904) Biographer and miscellaneous writer, b. at Haddington, ed. at the Grammar School there,...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Warren, Samuel
(1807-1877) Novelist, b. in Denbighshire, s. of a Nonconformist minister. After studying medicine a...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Samuel, Books of
The LXX. translators regarded the books of Samuel and of Kings as forming one continuous history, wh...

Easton's Bible Dictionary
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor
(1772-1834) Poet, philosopher, and critic, s. of the Rev. John C., vicar and schoolmaster of Ottery...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Ferguson, Sir Samuel
(1810-1886) Poet and antiquary, b. at Belfast, the s. of parents of Scottish extraction, he was ed....

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Gardiner, Samuel Rawson
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Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Garth, Sir Samuel
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Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Parr, Dr. Samuel
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Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Butcher, Samuel Henry
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Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Clemens, Samuel Langhorne
(see Twain, Mark). ...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Crockett, Samuel Rutherford
(b. 1860) Novelist and poet. The Stickit Minister (1893), The Raiders (1894), Lilac Sunbonnet (1894...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Lilly, William Samuel
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Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Samuel, Books Of
are not separated from each other in the Hebrew MSS., and, from a critical point of view, must be re...

William Smith's Bible Dictionary
Baker, Sir Samuel White
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Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Brydges, Sir Samuel Egerton
(1762-1837) Bibliographer and genealogist, ed. at Camb., was called to the Bar in 1787. He wrote so...

Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature by John W. Cousin
Sir Samuel Barnardiston's House
See New City Chambers. ...

A Dictionary of London by Henry A Harben.