365 Day Project: Day 54

Pepys' Nose for News

Robert Louis Stevenson

[Vol. 28, pp. 285-292 of The Harvard Classics]

Gossipy, witty Pepys had a curiosity that made him famous. He knew all the news of court and street. Stevenson, who never put his pen to a dull subject, writes of Pepys.

(Samuel Pepys born Feb. 23, 1632.)

Today’s reading includes a portion of an essay that Robert Louis Stevenson wrote about a historically famous diary written by Samuel Pepys.?Reading anything written by Stevenson will automatically elicit a positive response from me.?Treasure Island is one of my favorite books and I can remember exactly where I was standing in my elementary school library when I first removed that book from the shelf to read it.?However, since Stevenson’s essay is about another historical figure who I am not familiar with, I felt I needed to learn more about Samuel Pepys before reading.

Note:?Stevenson was born 150 years after Pepys’ death.

Background

Samuel Pepys lived in England during the seventeenth century and kept a diary for a ten-year period from 1660 to 1669. Pepys' diary is one of the most famous in history, as it provides a unique insight into the life of a middle-class man in London during the seventeenth century. Pepys wrote about a wide range of topics in his diary, including his work, his social life, his love life, and the political events of the time.

Stevenson’s Essay on Pepys

Samuel Pepys' diary is one of the most important primary sources for the history of England, and Stevenson was an admirer of Pepys and his work. In his essay, Stevenson praises Pepys for his vivid and detailed descriptions of everyday life in London, and for his frankness about his own thoughts and actions.?The following was one passage I highlighted during today’s reading.

“Here, then, we have the key to that remarkable attitude preserved by him throughout his Diary, to that unflinching—I had almost said, that unintelligent—sincerity which makes it a miracle among human books. He was not unconscious of his errors—far from it; he was often startled into shame, often reformed, often made and broke his vows of change. But whether he did ill or well, he was still his own unequalled self; still that entrancing ego of whom alone he cared to write; and still sure of his own affectionate indulgence, when the parts should be changed, and the writer come to read what he had written. Whatever he did, or said, or thought, or suffered, it was still a trait of Pepys, a character of his career; and as, to himself, he was more interesting than Moses or than Alexander, so all should be faithfully set down. I have called his Diary a work of art.”

I really enjoyed reading Stevenson’s thoughts about another famous historical figure whom he obviously admired very much.?Stevenson could see the brilliance in Pepys’ writing, as well as his devotion to the effort it took to record over one million words during that 10-year period.

Do you think it would be easier to talk about our own life, career, etc. if we documented the journey regularly?

Best,

Matt

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To learn more about me, as well as my coaching services, please visit my website at?https://www.silverarrowcoaching.com/?or connect with me on LinkedIn.

Resources

Kindle version of The Harvard Classics ($1.99):?https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089K4RP1F/