The Diary of Samuel Pepys

London: G. Bell and Sons Ltd., 1970-83. Cloth. Near Fine/Very Good Indeed. 9" by 6". None. A first edition complete set of the diaries of Samuel Pepys, each presented in a dust wrapper and illustrated throughout. Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) was an English politician, bibliophile and author. He kept a diary for ten years between 1660 and 1669 which chronicles life during the English Restoration, and as well as Pepys' personal and day-to-day life, it documents important events such as the Great Plague of London, the Great Fire of London and the Second Dutch War. It was first published in the nineteenth century.These eleven volumes comprise the entirety of Pepys' diary, and include a companion volume and an index volume. Each volume is complete with an unclipped dust wrapper.Volumes I through IX each span one year of the diary, with X being the companion and XI an index.Each volume of the diary contains maps of London to the rear of each volume, as well as a frontispiece.Volume I contains eleven full plate illustrations.Volume II contains three full plates and a folding plate to the rear.Volume III contains five full plates.Volume IV contains five full plates.Volume V contains five full plates; it has a clipped dust wrapper.Volume VI is a sixth impression, printed in 1983, and contains six full plates and a folding plate; it has a clipped dust wrapper.Volume VII is a fourth impression, printed in 1983, and contains seven full plates.Volume VIII is a third impression and contains six full plates; it has a clipped dust wrapper.Volume IX contains seven full plates.Collated, complete.The original publisher's band is loosely inserted inside volume XI; this contained volumes X and XI when sold together.A truly excellent edition of Pepys' important source of life in London in the 1660s. In the publisher's original full cloth binding with unclipped dust wrappers. Externally generally smart, with a little occasional scratch and mark. Dust wrappers are generally smart, with a handful a little sunned to the spine and some slight wear at the head and tail; volume II has a little loss to the head of the rear board. Internally, firmly bound, bar the front hinge of volume eight which is a little strained. Pages are bright and clean. Near Fine