The Letterbooks of John Evelyn

"This edition is a major contribution to our understanding of seventeenth-century literature, history, and culture." -- Maria Zytaruk, Department of English, University of Calgary "Douglas Chambers and David Galbraith are to be commended for editing the substantial letterbooks of John Evelyn (1620-1706), a useful window on the many interests of Evelyn and the seventeenth-century English culture to which he made such a contribution. His wide-ranging curiosity finds expression in these letters. Horticulture and botany are especially well represented, but architecture, numismatics, painting, translation, history, politics and divinity also find comment, sometimes at length." -- Nicholas von Maltzahn, Department of English, University of Ottawa

The Letterbooks of John Evelyn, a collection of more than eight hundred letters selected by Evelyn himself, constitutes an essential new resource for scholars of seventeenth-century England. 

A prolific author and founding member of the Royal Society, John Evelyn (1620–1706) was one of the most remarkable intellectuals in late seventeenth-century English society. While his diary has long been considered second only to that of Samuel Pepys in importance, until quite recently his papers were inaccessible to scholars.

The Letterbooks of John Evelyn, a 2-volume collection of more than eight hundred letters selected by Evelyn himself, constitutes an essential new resource for scholars of seventeenth-century England. The two books in this set give modern readers access to Evelyn’s correspondence with scientists and scholars such as Robert Boyle and Richard Bentley, political figures including Edward Hyde and Sidney Godolphin, and his friend and fellow diarist Samuel Pepys. They also include Evelyn’s accounts of major events such as the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688, and the founding and early history of the Royal Society.