Excerpt from The Quarterly Review, Vol. 183: January and April, 1896

The manuscri ts of both diaries were drawn, after more than a century had eihpsed since they were written, from the dusty obscurity of libraries. There the one had lain entirely un noticed, while the other was only known and valued by a private and limited circle. Both now engaged the close attention of accogplishcd editors, and enlisted, on their appearance, the criti services of the ablest reviewers of the age. In the literary world they at once attracted notice, and among general readers rapidly gained a popularity which every year has steadily increased. Thus it is that while the works of the royal and noble authors, the historians, divines, savants, courtiers, and politicians mentioned by D'lsraeli - even those of that age of diaries, ' as he justly calls it, the seventeenth century - repose for the most part in dignified neglect upon the shelves of public libraries, or are sought from the booksellers to enrich the private collections of the curious, those of the gay and garrulous Pepys and his most worthy friend John Evelyn have passed into sue cessive editions, adapted not only for the wealthiest purchasers and most discriminating students, but also for those who can only possess themselves of valuable works by the aid om impressions Half-a-crown or less spent at a railway or stationers shop will now procure the Memoirs of either, exhaustively indexed, and elucidated with the annotations of their original editors. The complete Kalendarium of Evelyn can be obtained for a shilling, while Pepys' more diverting, if not more interesting, diary is to be had in separate parts for an even smaller sum. Diminutivc booklets of Gleanings' and l'nops into Popvs' likewise attest his established popularity; while a coin tan'wn to the diary, named at the he of this attinie, has also appeared, which by its light and lively style, and lts author's easy mastery of his materials, is calcul to attract yet another generation of readers to the study 0 the fascinating pages of the vivacious Samuel Pepys, and to kindle a desire for an extended acquaintance with the world he lived in.'

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