Samuel Pepys and his books : reading, newsgathering, and sociability, 1660-1703 / Kate Loveman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Loveman, Kate, author.

Contributor:

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pepys, Samuel, 1633-1703--Books and reading.

Pepys, Samuel.

Pepys, Samuel, 1633-1703.

Books and reading--Great Britain--History--17th century.

Books and reading.

English literature--18th century--History and criticism.

English literature.

History.

Great Britain--Intellectual life--17th century.

Great Britain.

Intellectual life.

Great Britain--History--Restoration, 1660-1688.

Physical Description:

xiv, 308 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

On cover: Samuel Pepys & his books : reading, newsgathering, & sociability, 1660-1703

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2015.

Summary:

Samuel Pepys was a great collector of books, news, and gossip. This study uses his surviving papers to examine reading practices, collecting, and the exchange of information in the late seventeenth century. Offering the first extensive history of reading during the Restoration, it traces developments in the book trade and news transmission at a time when England was the scene of dramatic political and religious upheavals. The investigation goes beyond Pepys's famous diary of the 1660s, employing a variety of sources to explore the role that reading played in Pepys's life and in the lives of his contemporaries. It begins by examining what it meant to be a reader in Restoration London: the skills, the people, and the places involved. Pepys's wide-ranging interests serve as starting points for considering news exchange and the reception of major literary genres in the Restoration. Particular attention is given to conduct books, histories, religious works, and recreational reading (romances, drama, and novels). The appeal that these works held for readers was not always what we might expect-or, indeed, what the authors and publishers had expected. Additional chapters explore the social interactions surrounding information gathering: the ways people acquired oral and written news in London; the experience of book-buying; and the acquisition of manuscript and print through social networks. Analysed alongside other records, Pepys's papers provide unrivalled insights into literary and cultural developments in the second half of the seventeenth century. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 'Multitude of Books': Patterns of Reading in Pepys's Diary 20

2 Books, Education, and Self-Advancement 50

3 Pepys and News Networks in Restoration London 80

4 Reading History in the Restoration 108

5 'Books of Pleasure': Plays, Romances, and Novels 135

6 Buying Books in Restoration London 165

7 Books, Manuscripts, Gifts: Scholarly and International Networks 195

8 'Notes from Discourses touching Religion': Religious and Scientific Enquiry 217

9 Libraries and Closets: The Uses of a Book Collection 245.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Horace Howard Furness Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

9780198732686

0198732686

OCLC:

913793161