
Cambridge historian reveals fascinating new insights into life of Samuel Pepys

PhD researcher Marlo Avidon publishes images from Pepys’ private collection of fashion prints for the first time
Most of what we know about Samuel Pepys (1633–1703), the famous English diarist and naval administrator, comes from the diary that he kept from 1660–69. However, Pepys lived for another 34 years and while surviving letters offer clues, we know less about the second, more privileged half of his life.
Cambridge historian Marlo Avidon offers precious new insights having studied Pepys’ private collection of fashion prints in the Pepys Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where Pepys had been a student. 2024 marks the 300th anniversary of Magdalene acquiring Pepys’ private library including his original diaries.
Avidon studied Pepys’ print collection as part of her PhD research into the role of fashion in the identity construction of elite women in the late 17th Century. Appearing in the journal ‘The Seventeenth Century’, Avidon’s article publishes eight images from the collection for the first time.

Inside the Pepys Library at Magdalene College, Cambridge. Credit: Douglas Atfield
