Diary of Samuel Pepys, Preface and Life | Page 5

Earl of
Stamford. It has his autograph at the commencement, and on the sides
are his arms (four quarterings) in gold. In 1819, it was sold by auction
in London, as part of the collection of Thomas Lloyd, Esq. (No. 1465),
and was then bought by Thomas Thorpe, bookseller. Whilst Mr. Lloyd
was the possessor, the MS. was lent to Dr. Lingard, whose note of
thanks to Mr. Lloyd is preserved in the volume. From Thorpe it appears
to have passed to Mr. Heber, at the sale of whose MSS. in Feb. 1836,
by Mr. Evans, of Pall Mall, it was purchased by the British Museum for
L8 8s.
"Thomas Rugge was descended from an ancient Norfolk family, and
two of his ancestors are described as Aldermen of Norwich. His death
has been ascertained to have occurred about 1672; and in the Diary for
the preceding year he complains that on account of his declining health,
his entries will be but few. Nothing has been traced of his personal
circumstances beyond the fact of his having lived for fourteen years in
Covent Garden, then a fashionable locality."
Another work I have found of the greatest value is the late Mr. J. E.
Doyle's "Official Baronage of England" (1886), which contains a mass
of valuable information not easily to be obtained elsewhere. By
reference to its pages I have been enabled to correct several erroneous
dates in previous notes caused by a very natural confusion of years in
the case of the months of January, February, and March, before it was
finally fixed that the year should commence in January instead of
March. More confusion has probably been introduced into history from
this than from any other cause of a like nature. The reference to two
years, as in the case of, say, Jan. 5, 1661-62, may appear clumsy, but it
is the only safe plan of notation. If one year only is mentioned, the
reader is never sure whether or not the correction has been made. It is a
matter for sincere regret that the popular support was withheld from Mr.
Doyle's important undertaking, so that the author's intention of
publishing further volumes, containing the Baronies not dealt with in

those already published, was frustrated.
My labours have been much lightened by the kind help which I have
received from those interested in the subject. Lovers of Pepys are
numerous, and I have found those I have applied to ever willing to give
me such information as they possess. It is a singular pleasure, therefore,
to have an opportunity of expressing publicly my thanks to these
gentlemen, and among them I would especially mention Messrs.
Fennell, Danby P. Fry, J. Eliot Hodgkin, Henry Jackson, J. K.
Laughton, Julian Marshall, John Biddulph Martin, J. E. Matthew,
Philip Norman, Richard B. Prosser, and Hugh Callendar, Fellow of
Trinity College, who verified some of the passages in the manuscript.
To the Master and Fellows of Magdalene College, also, I am especially
indebted for allowing me to consult the treasures of the Pepysian
Library, and more particularly my thanks are due to Mr. Arthur G.
Peskett, the Librarian.
H. B. W. BRAMPTON, OPPIDANS ROAD, LONDON, N.W.
February, 1893.

PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF THE DIARY.
I. Memoirs of Samuel Pepys, Esq., F.R.S., Secretary to the Admiralty
in the reigns of Charles II. and James II., comprising his Diary from
1659 to 1669, deciphered by the Rev. John Smith, A.B., of St. John's
College, Cambridge, from the original Shorthand MS. in the Pepysian
Library, and a Selection from his Private Correspondence. Edited by
Richard, Lord Braybrooke. In two volumes. London, Henry Colburn . . .
1825. 4vo.
2. Memoirs of Samuel Pepys, Esq., F.R.S. . . . Second edition. In five
volumes. London, Henry Colburn . . . . 1828. 8vo.
3. Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys, F.R.S., Secretary to the
Admiralty in the reigns of Charles II. and James II.; with a Life and
Notes by Richard, Lord Braybrooke; the third edition, considerably
enlarged. London, Henry Colburn . . . . 1848-49. 5 vols. sm. 8vo.
4. Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys, F.R.S. . . . The fourth
edition, revised and corrected. In four volumes. London, published for
Henry Colburn by his successors, Hurst and Blackett . . . 1854. 8vo.
The copyright of Lord Braybrooke's edition was purchased by the late
Mr. Henry G. Bohn, who added the book to his Historical Library.

5. Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys, Esq., F.R.S., from his
MS. Cypber in the Pepysian Library, with a Life and Notes by Richard,
Lord Braybrooke. Deciphered, with additional notes, by the Rev.
Mynors Bright, M.A. . . . London, Bickers and Son, 1875-79. 6 vols.
8vo.
Nos. 1, 2 and 3 being out of copyright have been reprinted by various