2 volumes, 4to (298 x 229 mm). Half-titles, 14 engraved plates including frontispieces and a folding double-page plate. (Offsetting from plates to text, some spotting in the margins.) Contemporary calf, gilt decorated border, yellow stained edges (re-backed with renewed endpapers, extremities gently rubbed).

FIRST EDITION of Pepys' influential and entertaining diary which was in cipher until 1825, when it was deciphered by John Smith. Edited by Lord Braybrooke, the contents depict contemporary everyday life, making this a popular source of information about late 17-century England . "The best book of its kind in the English language... Pepys is marvelously entertaining: the times and the man peep out in a thousand odd circumstances and amusing expressions... The ablest picture of the age in which the writer lived, and a work of standard importance in English Literature" (London Athenaeum, 1848, no. 669; Allibone II:1557). Grolier English 75.