The Diary of John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February 1706), a gentlemanly Royalist and virtuoso[clarification needed] of the seventeenth century, was first published in 1818 (2nd edition, 1819)[1] under the title Memoirs Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, in an edition by William Bray.
Bray was assisted by William Upcott, who had access to the Evelyn family archives.
[3] Its claim to be a diary, as opposed to a memoir, is not strict; up to around 1683 the entries were not daily additions, but were compiled much later from notes, and show in some cases the benefits of hindsight.
[5] After Bray's initial editing and selection, other editors worked on the Diary in the following century.
[6][7] The total number of words in the manuscript is over half a million, of which Bray's edition printed under 60%.