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John Evelyn

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writer, gardener and diarist (1620-1706)

Key facts

Born
( 1620-10-31 ) 31 October 1620, Wotton, Surrey , England
Died
27 February 1706 (1706-02-27) (aged 85), Dover Street , London , England
Occupations
Writer gardener diarist
Spouse
Mary Evelyn ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1647 ) ​
Children
8, including John and Mary

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
John
Gender
male
Place of birth
Wotton
Place of death
London
Occupation
art historian
Languages spoken
Ancient Greek
Image
JohnEvelyn1687.jpg
Show 11 more facts
member of
Royal Society
Commons category
John Evelyn
date of birth
1620-00-00
date of death
1706-00-00
name in native language
John Evelyn
writing language
English language
has works in the collection
Yale Center for British Art
P12749
Kurt Moll
Commons Creator page
John Evelyn
Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

Works in European collections

7 objects attributed to John Evelyn, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

~26 min read

Encyclopedic overview

John Evelyn (31 October 1620 – 27 February 1706), an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, has become best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society.

John Evelyn's diary (or memoir) 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 the execution of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell's rise and eventual natural death, the last Great Plague of London, and the Great Fire of London in 1666.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “John Evelyn” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.