Free eBook: The Hidden Poems of Samuel Pepys, 1668

Download and enjoy.

As with the other volumes in this series, I ignored the ambiguity in Pepys’ day about when the year actually began due to the messy, slow conversion to the modern calendar. 1668 sees major political shake-ups in the Naval Office with Pepys gaining in power at the expense of the aristocratic deadwood (including his neighbor William Penn). At the same time, his philandering finally catches up with him, and Elizabeth uses his fear of a public denunciation and separation to bring him very much to heel. And he complains more and more about eye strain, which will lead him to abandon the diary part way through the next year.

Which doesn’t necessarily mean that the erasure project will conclude in 2022, because I still need to go back and re-do the first year and half, which was pretty inconsistent at best, and then gather the first four years into eBook collections. When all that’s done, it might finally be time for a “best of” selection with a proper publisher. (If any editors are interested, do reach out.)

If you missed any of the previous eBooks, they’re all linked at the top of the erasure project page.

Dave leaning on a bust of Samuel Pepys
Sam I am?

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