John Evelyn | |
|---|---|
 Evelyn in 1687 | |
| Born | (1620-10-31)31 October 1620 Wotton, Surrey, England |
| Died | 27 February 1706(1706-02-27) (aged 85) Dover Street,London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, gardener, and diarist |
| Spouse | Mary Evelyn |
John EvelynFRS (31 October 1620 – 27 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner,gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as adiarist. He was a founding Fellow of theRoyal Society.[1]
John Evelyn's diary, ormemoir, spanned the period of his adult life from 1640, when he was a student, to 1706, the year he died. He did not write daily at all times. The many volumes provide insight into life and events at a time before regular magazines or newspapers were published, making diaries of greater interest to modern historians than such works might have been at later periods. Evelyn's work covers art, culture and politics, including theexecution of Charles I,Oliver Cromwell's rise and eventual natural death, the lastGreat Plague of London, and theGreat Fire of London in 1666.
John Evelyn's Diary was first published posthumously in 1818, but over the years was overshadowed by that ofSamuel Pepys. Pepys wrote a different kind of diary, in the same era but covering a much shorter period, 1660–1669, and in much greater depth.[2]
Among the many subjects Evelyn wrote about, gardening was an increasing obsession, and he left a huge manuscript on the subject that was not printed until 2001. He published several translations of French gardening books, and hisSylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees (1664) was highly influential in its plea to landowners to plant trees, of which he believed the country to be dangerously short. Sections from his main manuscript were added to editions of this, and also published separately.
Born into a family whose wealth was largely founded ongunpowder production, John Evelyn was born inWotton, Surrey, and grew up living with his grandparents inLewes, Sussex.[3] While living in Lewes, in Southover Grange, he was educated atLewes Old Grammar School,[4] refusing to be sent toEton College.[5] After this he was educated atBalliol College, Oxford, and at theMiddle Temple. In London, he witnessed important events such as the trials and executions ofWilliam Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford, andThomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford.
In 1640 his father died, and in July 1641 he crossed toHolland. He was enrolled as a volunteer, and then encamped before Genep, on theWaal river, but his military experience was limited to six days of camp life, during which, however, he took his turn at "trailing a pike". He returned in the autumn to find England on the verge of civil war.[5] Having briefly joined theRoyalist army and arrived too late for the Royalist victory at theBattle of Brentford in 1642,[6] he spent some time improving his brother's property at Wotton,[5] but then went abroad to avoid further involvement in theEnglish Civil War.[7]
In October 1644 Evelyn visited the Roman ruins inFréjus, Provence, before travelling on to Italy.[8] He attended anatomy lectures inPadua in 1646 and sent theEvelyn Tables back to London. These are thought to be the oldest surviving anatomical preparations in Europe; Evelyn later gave them to the Royal Society, and they are now in theHunterian Museum. In 1644, Evelyn visited theEnglish College at Rome, where Catholic priests were trained for service in England. In the Veneto he renewed his acquaintance with the famous art collectorThomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, and toured the art collections ofVenice withArundel's grandson and heir, laterDuke of Norfolk. He acquired an ancient Egyptian stela and sent a sketch back to Rome, which was published byFather Kircher, SJ, in Kircher'sOedipus Aegyptiacus (1650), albeit without acknowledgement to Evelyn.[9]
InFlorence, he commissioned theJohn Evelyn Cabinet (1644–46), an elaborateebony cabinet withpietra dura and gilt-bronze panels, which is now in theVictoria and Albert Museum. It was in his London house at his death, then returned to Wotton, and is very likely the "ebony cabinet" in which his diaries were later found.[10]
In 1647 Evelyn marriedMary Browne, daughter ofSir Richard Browne, the English ambassador in Paris.[11] During the next few years he travelled back and forth between France and England, corresponding with Browne in the royalist interest, including a meeting withCharles I in 1647.
During theCommonwealth of England period, Evelyn desired to maintain using theChurch of England'sAnglican practices. Among these was worship according to theBook of Common Prayer. Though prayer book had been outlawed and replaced by theDirectory for Public Worship, Evelyn was able to find and worship at prayer book services, including in London. At one such service–held onChristmas Day, 1657–Evelyn reported thatParliamentarians "held their muskets against us as we came up to receive theSacred Elements". Evelyn would also recount regular usage of the prayer book's offices and itscalendar with his family inside their home.[12]
In 1651 he became convinced that the royalist cause was hopeless, and decided to return to England.[13] The following year, the couple settled inDeptford (present-day south-east London). Their house,Sayes Court (adjacent to thenaval dockyard), was purchased by Evelyn from his father-in-law in 1653; Evelyn soon began to transform the gardens. In 1671, he encountered master wood-workerGrinling Gibbons (who was renting a cottage on the Sayes Court estate) and introduced him to SirChristopher Wren. There is now anelectoral ward called Evelyn inDeptford, London Borough of Lewisham.[14] He remained a royalist, had refused employment from the government of the Commonwealth, and had maintained a cipher correspondence withCharles II; in 1659 he published anApology for the Royal Party.[13]
It was after theRestoration that Evelyn's career really took off, and he enjoyed unbroken court favour until his death. He never held any important political office, although he filled many useful and minor posts. In 1660, he was a member of the group that founded theRoyal Society. The following year, he wrote theFumifugium (orThe Inconveniencie of the Aer and Smoak of London Dissipated), a pamphlet on the growing air pollution problem in London.[15] He was commissioner for improving the streets and buildings of London, for examining into the affairs of charitable foundations, commissioner of theRoyal Mint, and of foreign plantations. During theSecond Anglo-Dutch War, beginning 28 October 1664, Evelyn served as one of four commissioners on theSick and Hurt Board (others includedSir William D'Oyly andSir Thomas Clifford),[16] staying at his post during theGreat Plague in 1665. He found it impossible to secure sufficient money for the proper discharge of his functions, and in 1688 he was still petitioning for payment of his accounts in this business. He briefly acted as one of the commissioners of theprivy seal. In 1695 he was entrusted with the office of treasurer ofGreenwich hospital for retired sailors, and laid the first stone of the new building on 30 June 1696.[13]
He was known for hisknowledge of trees, and had a friend and correspondent,Philip Dumaresq, who "devoted most of his time to gardening, fruit, and tree culture."[17] Evelyn's treatise,Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees (1664), was written as an encouragement to landowners to plant trees to provide timber for England's burgeoning navy. Further editions appeared in his lifetime (1670 and 1679), with the fourth edition (1706) appearing just after his death and featuring the engraving of Evelyn shown on this page (below) even though it had been made more than 50 years prior byRobert Nanteuil in 1651 in Paris. Various other editions appeared in the 18th and 19th centuries and feature an inaccurate portrait of Evelyn made byFrancesco Bartolozzi.
Evelyn had some training as a draftsman and artist, and created severaletchings. Most of his published work, produced in the form of drawings to be engraved by others, was to illustrate his own work.
Following theGreat Fire in 1666, closely described inhis diaries, Evelyn presented the first of several plans (Christopher Wren produced another) for the rebuilding of London, all of which were rejected by Charles II largely due to the complexities of land ownership in the city. He took an interest in the rebuilding ofSt Paul's Cathedral by Wren (with Gibbons' artistry a notable addition). Evelyn's interest in gardens even led him to design pleasure gardens, such as those atEuston Hall.[18][19]
Evelyn was a prolific author and produced books on subjects as diverse as theology, numismatics, politics,horticulture,architecture andvegetarianism, and he cultivated links with contemporaries across the spectrum of Stuart political and cultural life. In September 1671 he travelled with the Royal court ofCharles II toNorwich where he called upon SirThomas Browne. Like Browne and Pepys, Evelyn was a lifelongbibliophile, and by his death his library is known to have comprised 3,859 books and 822 pamphlets, his personal manuscripts, and correspondence with noble figures among England and France. It would be called the John Evelyn Archives and placed in the British Library. Included in this would be his diaries broken down into four volumes with over half a million words. Many were uniformly bound in a French taste and bear his mottoOmnia explorate; meliora retinete ("explore everything; keep the better") from I Thessalonians 5, 21.[20]
His daughter, Mary Evelyn (1665–1685), has been acknowledged as the pseudonymous author of the bookMundus Muliebris of 1690.Mundus Muliebris: or, The Ladies Dressing Room Unlock'd and Her Toilette Spread. In Burlesque. Together with the Fop-Dictionary, Compiled for the Use of the Fair Sex is a satirical guide in verse to Francophile fashion and terminology, and its authorship is often jointly credited to John Evelyn,[21] who seems to have edited the work for press after his daughter's death.
In 1694 Evelyn moved back toWotton, Surrey, as his elder brother, George, had no living sons available to inherit the estate. Evelyn inherited the estate and the family seatWotton House on the death of his brother in 1699.[22] Sayes Court was made available for rent. Its most notable tenant was RussianTsarPeter the Great, who lived there for three months in 1698 (and did great damage to both house and grounds).[13] The house no longer exists, but a public park of the same name can be found off Evelyn Street.[23]
Evelyn died in 1706 at his house inDover Street, London. Wotton House and estate were inherited by his grandsonJohn (1682–1763) later Sir John Evelyn, Bt.
John and Mary Evelyn had eight children:
Mary Evelyn died in 1709, three years after her husband. Both are buried in the Evelyn Chapel in St John's Church, Wotton.
Evelyn's epitaph (original spelling) reads:
Here lies the Body of JOHN EVELYN Esq of this place, second son of RICHARD EVELYN Esq who having served the Publick in several employments of which that Commissioner of the Privy Seal in the reign of King James the 2nd was most Honourable: and perpetuated his fame by far more lasting Monuments than those of Stone, or Brass: his Learned and useful works, fell asleep the 27th day of February 1705/6 being the 86th Year of his age in full hope of a glorious resurrection thro faith in Jesus Christ. Living in an age of extraordinary events, and revolutions he learnt (as himself asserted) this truth which pursuant to his intention is here declared. That all is vanity which is not honest and that there's no solid Wisdom but in real piety.
Of five Sons and three Daughters borne to him from his most vertuous and excellent Wife MARY sole daughter, and heiress of Sir RICHARD BROWNE of Sayes Court near Deptford in Kent onely one Daughter SUSANNA married to WILLIAM DRAPER Esq of Adscomb in this County survived him – the two others dying in the flower of their age, and all the sons very young except one nam'd John who deceased 24 March 1698/9 in the 45th year of his age, leaving one son JOHN and one daughter ELIZABETH.
Wotton House and estate passed down to Evelyn's great-great-grandsonSir Frederick Evelyn, 3rd Bt (1733–1812). The baronetcy next passed to Frederick Evelyn's cousins,Sir John Evelyn, 4th Bt (1757–1833), andSir Hugh Evelyn, 5th Bt (1769–1848). Both these two were of unsound mind and the estate was therefore left to a remote cousin descended from the diarist's grandfather's first marriage, in whose family it remains to this day though they no longer occupy the house. The title died out in 1848. However, there are many living descendants of John Evelyn through his daughter Susanna, Mrs William Draper, and his granddaughter Elizabeth, Mrs Simon Harcourt. There are many descendants of John Evelyn's great-great-grandson, Charles Evelyn Jnr, through his daughter Susanna Prideaux (Evelyn) Wright living in New Zealand. Charles Evelyn Jnr was also the father of Sir John Evelyn, 4th Bt, and the last baronet, Sir Hugh Evelyn, 5th Bt.
In 1992 the skulls of John and Mary were stolen by persons unknown who hacked into the stonesarcophagi on the chapel floor and tore open the coffins. They have not been recovered.
John Evelyn's Diary remained unpublished as a manuscript until 1818. It is in aquarto volume containing 700 pages, covering the years between 1641 and 1697, and is continued in a smaller book – which brings the narrative down to within three weeks of its author's death. Despite entries going back to 1641, Evelyn only actually started writing his diary much later, relying on almanacs and accounts of other people for many of the previous events. A selection from this was edited byWilliam Bray, with the permission of the Evelyn family, in 1818, under the title ofMemoirs illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, comprising his Diary from 1641 to 1705/6, and a Selection of his Familiar Letters. Other editions followed, including those of H. B. Wheatley (1879) andAustin Dobson (3 vols, 1906).[13] The modern edition is byGuy de la Bédoyère, who has also edited Evelyn's correspondence withSamuel Pepys.
Evelyn's active mind produced many other works, and although many of these have been overshadowed by the famousDiary they are of considerable interest. They include:[13]
Some of these were reprinted inThe Miscellaneous Writings of John Evelyn, edited (1825) byWilliam Upcott.[13]
Evelyn's friendship withMargaret Blagge, afterwards Mrs Godolphin, is recorded in the diary, when he says he designed "to consecrate her worthy life to posterity". This he effectually did in a little masterpiece of religious biography which remained in manuscript in the possession of the Harcourt family until it was edited bySamuel Wilberforce, bishop of Oxford, as theLife of Mrs Godolphin (1847), reprinted in the "King's Classics" (1904). The picture of Mistress Blagge's saintly life at court is heightened in interest when read in connexion with the scandalous memoirs of thecomte de Gramont, or contemporary political satires on the court.[13]
Numerous other papers and letters of Evelyn on scientific subjects and matters of public interest are preserved, including a collection of private and official letters and papers (1642–1712) by, or addressed to,Sir Richard Browne and his son-in-law, now held by theBritish Library (Add MSS 15857 and 15858).[13]
The most influential of his books in his lifetime, long before theDiary was known, wasSylva. Evelyn believed that the country was being rapidly depleted of wood by industries such as glass factories and iron furnaces, while no attempt was being made to replace the damage by planting. In "Sylva", Evelyn pleaded for afforestation and asserted in his preface to the king that he had induced landowners to plant millions of trees.[13] It was a valuable work on arboriculture containing many engravings[24] of trees and their foliage to assist with identification.
He spent much of his later life working on the enormousElysium Britannicum, covering all aspects of gardening. This was never completed, and was finally published in 2001, from his 1,000-page manuscript now in theBritish Library (Add MS 78432). Parts of it were published as he began to realize the main task would never be completed. These includedKalendarium Hortense, or The Gardener's Almanac – a monthly list of tasks for the gardener,Pomona on apples, andAcetaria on "sallets" (salad plants).[25]
In 1977 and 1978 in eight auctions atChristie's, a major surviving portion of Evelyn's library was sold and dispersed.[26] TheBritish Library holds a large archive of Evelyn's personal papers including the manuscript of his Diary.[27] TheVictoria and Albert Museum has in its collectiona cabinet owned by Evelyn which is thought to have housed his diaries. In 2006, a new biography by Gillian Darley, based on full access to the archive, was published.[28] In 2011 a campaign was started to restore John Evelyn's garden in Deptford.[29]William Arthur Evelyn was a descendant.
Things named for Evelyn include:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Evelyn, John".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 5–6.
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