Mr. Pepys : an introduction to the Diary together with a sketch of his later life / by J.R. Tanner.

Tanner, J. R. (Joseph Robson), 1860-1931.

Date:: 1925

Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Mr. Pepys : an introduction to the Diary together with a sketch of his later life / by J.R. Tanner. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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of that year he was entered at Trinity Hall, Cam¬ bridge, perhaps because his kinsman, John Pepys, LL.D., was a Fellow there. Before coming into residence, however, he migrated to Magdalene, and was admitted there as a sizar on October i. The date of his first appearance at the University is fixed by a shorthand note in the Diary for December 31, 1664 : “ Went to reside in Magd. Coll. Camb. and did put on my gown first, March 5, 1650-1.” A month later, on April 3, 1651, he was elected to a Spendluffe Scholarship. He did not matriculate until July 4, but in those days so long an interval between residence and matri¬ culation was not unusual. On October 4,1653, he became a Scholar on Dr. John Smith’s Founda¬ tion, and in March 1653-4 he proceeded to the B.A. degree. Only a single episode in his Cambridge career still stands unsubmerged by the waters of oblivion,—an entry in the Mag¬ dalene College Registrar’s book: “Oct. 21, 1653. Memorandum, that Peapys and Hind were solemnely admonished by myself and Mr. Hill for having bene scandalously overseene in drink 1 the night before ; this was done in presence of all the Fellows then resident, in Mr. Hill’s 1 The expression “overseen in drink” = intoxicated, was in frequent use during the 17th century. The traditional “ over¬ served with drink,” which dates back to the Braybrooke editions and has been industriously copied by subsequent writers, is due to a misreading of the MS.