MEMOIRS OF JOHN EVELYN . . . COMPRISING HIS DIARY FROM 1641 TO 1705-6, AND A SELECTION OF HIS FAMILIAR LETTERS

London: Henry Colburn, 1827. A New Edition. 222 x 140 mm. (8 3/4 x 5 1/2"). Five volumes..
Especially pleasing contemporary tree calf by John Bumpus (stamp-signed on front free flyleaf), covers with decorative gilt border, raised bands flanked by stippled rules, very attractively rebacked, spine compartments featuring elegant floral centerpiece surrounded by a lozenge shape of small tools, graceful floral cornerpieces, decorative band of oak leaves at foot of each spine, red and green morocco labels, turn-ins with gilt Greek key roll, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. One illustration in the text, one four-page folding genealogy, and 10 engraved plates. Front pastedowns with shelf label of the Easton Neston Library. Keynes 134 ◆Minor wear to extremities (two corners expertly repaired), one raised band slightly nicked, one leaf torn in fore margin (not affecting text), perhaps a dozen leaves lightly foxed or soiled, other trivial imperfections, but a very pretty set, remarkably clean and bright inside and out.

This appealing set collects the most personal writings of John Evelyn (1620-1706), who published a number of important books (either original works or translations from the French) on architecture, arboriculture, gardening, and navigation. But the work for which he will always be remembered is the present diary, first published in 1818, covering his entire life and highlighted by accounts of his Continental travels and by brilliant descriptions of his contemporaries. Of special interest is his recounting of the Great London Fire of 1666, which he watched from his home on the south bank of the Thames. DNB notes that his letters "reflected and extended the social and scientific interchange of his time." Our printing, which appears to be the third, comprises three volumes of the diary and two volumes of correspondence..