Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, Esq F. R. S.

London: Henry Colburn, 1819. Leather. Good. 11.5" by 9.5". Unamed. A detailed edition of the life and memoirs of diarist John Evelyn. Second edition. 'Comprising his diary, from the year 1641 to 1705-6, and a selection of his familiar letters. To which is subjoined, the private correspondence between King Charles I. and his secretary of state, Sir Edward Nicholas, whilst His Majesty was in Scotland, 1641, and at other times during the Civil War; also between Sir Edward Hyde, afterwards Earl of Clarendon, and Sir Richard Browne, ambassador to the court of France, in the time of Kind Charles I. and the usurpation'. With frontispieces to both volumes, one portrait of John Evelyn and one of his wife Mary, and ten other plates (collated complete). John Evelyn (31 October 1620 27 February 1706) was an English writer, gardener and diarist. Evelyn's diaries or Memoirs are largely contemporaneous with those of the other noted diarist of the time, Samuel Pepys, and cast considerable light on the art, culture and politics of the time (he witnessed the deaths of Charles I and Oliver Cromwell, the last Great Plague of London, and the Great Fire of London in 1666). Complete in two volumes. In half-calf bindings with marbled boards. Externally sound, though a little rubbed, and with some wear to the spines. Rear joint of volume I cracked. Internally, firmly bound. Two hinges strained. Pages are bright, though with some scattered spotting and off-setting throughout. Good