In submitting the following pages to the Public, I feel that it
is incumbent upon me to explain by what circumstances the
materials from which the Work has been compiled were placed at my
disposal. The original Diary, comprehending six volumes, closely
written in short-hand by Mr. Pepys himself, belonged to the
valuable collection of books and prints, bequeathed by him to
Magdalene College, Cambridge, and had remained there unexamined,
till the appointment of my Brother, the present Master, under
whose auspices the MS. was deciphered by Mr. John Smith, with a
view to its publication.

My Brother's time, however, being too much engrossed by more
important duties to admit of his editing the work, the task of
preparing it for the press was undertaken by me at his request.

The Diary commences January 1st, 1659-60 and after being
regularly kept for ten years, it is brought to a sudden
conclusion, owing to the weak state of Mr. Pepys's eyes, which
precluded him from continuing or resuming the occupation. As he
was in the habit of recording the most trifling occurrences of
his life, it became absolutely necessary to curtail the MS.
materially, and in many instances to condense the matter; but the
greatest care has been taken to preserve the original meaning,
without making a single addition, excepting where, from the
short-hand being defective, some alteration appeared absolutely
necessary. It may be objected by those who are not aware how
little is known from authentic sources of the History of the
Stage about the period of the Restoration, that the notices of
theatrical performances occur too frequently; but as many of the