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Deciphered from Pepys's shorthand diaries by Rev. John Smith and edited by Richard, Lord Braybrooke. 2 volumes. xlii, 498, [2], xlix; [iv], 348, [2], viii, 311 pp. 13 engraved plates, including one folding. (4to) 11¾x9¼, period full calf, spines gilt, all edges marbled. First Edition.

Key historical record of Restoration London, which remained unprinted for more than 150 years after its original composition. The text was painstakingly deciphered from Pepys's shorthand by Smith, a penniless student, who did not realise that the manual for the system, Thomas Shelton's Tutor to Tachygraphy (1642), was easily accessible in his own college library. Like all 19th-century editions, this first printing censors the frankest of Pepys's confessions. Complete with the often lacking half-titles.