"Mr. Pepys, always careful in his dress, leaves home on business."

They had metro in the 17th century too, they just looked upon it differently.

This Harold Sichel print is in the biography section, where the text explains "Any piece of writing which is, or even pretends to be, a true confession or revelation of the thoughts or private life of the writer is sure to find many readers if it is at all well written."

"Morever," it continues "lives which would seem commonplace enough today sometimes become interesting if they were lived long ago. It is for these reasons that we still read with enthusiasm the diary of Samuel Pepys, although he died more than two hundred years ago."

His diary of the 1660s reveal jealousies, insecurity, his rocky marriage and other, human, trivial concerns. He detailed and humanized the Restoration, the Second Anglo-Dutch War of 1665-7, the Great Plague of 1665, and the Great Fire of London in 1666. He'd be a fine blogger today.

The fair maiden in the window? Her Twitter feed is annoying.

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