Evelyn, John
Evelyn, John (1620–1706). The second great diarist of his time, although his is less self-revelatory than that of Samuel Pepys. However, it covers a far longer time-span, 1641–1706. Evelyn was a less acute observer and more conventional in his interests and judgements but possessed a wider circle of acquaintances. A fervent royalist, he spent the Civil War years touring in Europe, but after 1660 he was commissioner for sick and wounded in the Anglo-Dutch War of 1665–7 and for the mint, and member of the Council for plantations. Evelyn as a virtuoso or amateur scientist was a founding fellow of the Royal Society. His Sylva (1664) encouraged and educated landowners in forestry, and he wrote a pioneer tract on smoke-abatement for an already smog-enveloped London.
J. R. Jones
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Evelyn, John
