Pepys and Evelyn first came to know each other during the Second Dutch War (1664-7), when, despite the Plague decimating the London they both loved, they were preoccupied with the business of sick and wounded seamen. Nearly fortyyears later they were still corresponding, this time exchaging details of remedies for the afflictions of old age. Their friendship, and their relationships with others, as recorded in their famous diaries and letters, provide anexceptional opportunity to experience life at the heart of Restoration England and the late seventeenth century. Remarkably, although the existence of their correspondence has been widely known since their diaries were first transcribed and published in the early nineteenth century, the letters have never previously been published together. This edition draws on the texts of almost all the 136 letters known to have existed, some of which have been lost for more than a hundred years; it includes the full text, freshly transcribed, of every letter which could be located, each fully annotated. The enormous problems of distinguishing the maze of misdated copies, drafts, and letters-sent are discussed in full, making this the definitive edition of the correspondence; hundreds of details of their lives and friendship emerge which go unmentioned, or are barely alluded to, in the diaries. GUY DE LA BEdoyreholds degrees in history and archaeology from the Universities of Durham and London; previously published works include an edition of Evelyn's Diary and a selection of his other works, The Writings of John Evelyn(both by The Boydell Press, 1995).