Bray, William (ed.) Memoirs of John Evelyn. Henry Colburn, 1827. 8vo (5 vols). Full calf, boards with gilt-fillet borders, spines gilt in compartments, contrasting morocco lettering pieces in two, blind roll-tooled board edges and turn-ins, speckled edges; 9 plates (2 folding) and one folding pedigree; ex-library with small neat ink class marks at foot of spines, small card folders on upper pastedowns and white stickers on lower pastedowns in III-V; provenance: Kirkman Daniel Hodgson (1814-1879, Governor of the Bank of England and MP, his bookplate in I-IV, faded patch where lost from V). As with Pepys diaries, those of John Evelyn offer a glimpse of the cultures and customs of an era from a personal perspective. They give first-hand experience of events like the Great Plague and Fire, the Rye House Plot and the Restoration, and of his role in groups like the Royal Society, of which he was a founder member. The diary was first published in 1818, when Bray edited the manuscript. This is the enlarged edition (from two to five volumes) with correspondence between Charles I and Sir Edward Nicholas and Sir Edward Hyde and Sir Richard Browne appended. The diary was begun when Evelyn was 11 years old and was a personal document, never intended for publication. As such it contains both short personal memoranda and expansive accounts of major events of which he was a part. As with all diaries this mix of the general and the specific, the personal and public, and the tiny details of everyday living, gives a window into the realities of life for the writer. Evelyn's keen mind and important position make this a fascinating historical source.