Historical Fiction Defoe, Daniel: A Journal of the Plague Year. v1.0 10 Nov 2014

DomesticExtremis · 11-09-2014, 10:56 PM

Quote:

A Journal of the Plague Year being observations or memorials of the most remarkable occurrences, as well public as private, which happened in London during the last great visitation in 1665. Written by a Citizen who continued all the while in London. Never made public before.

The base text for this ePub was obtained from the online copy at the University of Adelaide, but modified to match a scanned copy of the first edition of 1722.
The layout and typography has been changed to match the first edition, with decorations and banners taken from the pdf and using Igino Marini's Fell types fonts the 'Double Pica' being the closest match to that found in the original.

From Wikipedia:

Quote:

Another source of information on the time is a fictional account, A Journal of the Plague Year, which was written by Daniel Defoe and published in 1722. He was only six when the plague struck but made use of his family's recollections (his uncle was a saddler in East London and his father a butcher in Cripplegate), interviews with survivors and sight of such official records as were available.

The do's and don'ts of surviving a deadly epidemic
in a crowded city, something to think about in these
Ebola menaced times, but also a fantastic, if at times
gruesome, read.

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Nabeel · 11-14-2014, 01:59 PM

Thank you for uploading this. A real surprise of a book! I think it almost counts as science-fiction, or proto-science fiction. And very London-based. Very strong sense of atmosphere comes across, and while it's serious, somehow it manages to be not depressing (or is that just me?).

DomesticExtremis · 11-15-2014, 12:22 AM

Thanks - glad you enjoyed it.

It is London based because the subject is the Great Plague of
London in 1665, that and the Great Fire a year later had quite a
major historical impact on the city. most of the places mentioned still
exist and even the sites of some of the plague pits are protected from
building development. For a Londoner like me, that makes it all the
more poignant.

Bear in mind that though fictional, it is almost certainly based on
anecdotes from people who lived through the event and the numbers
in the Bills of Moratlity are real. It is reckoned that 15% of the population
died during that period.

Whilst gruesome, it is heartening to see how social solidarity and empathy
appeared, across all classes and faiths, in the face of a common threat.
I'm not sure the same would happen these days.

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11-14-2014, 01:59 PM	#2
Nabeel Zealot Posts: 146 Karma: 2747136 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Britain Device: Kobo Aura One	Thank you for uploading this. A real surprise of a book! I think it almost counts as science-fiction, or proto-science fiction. And very London-based. Very strong sense of atmosphere comes across, and while it's serious, somehow it manages to be not depressing (or is that just me?).

11-15-2014, 12:22 AM	#3
DomesticExtremis Addict Posts: 243 Karma: 359054 Join Date: Nov 2012 Device: default	Thanks - glad you enjoyed it. It is London based because the subject is the Great Plague of London in 1665, that and the Great Fire a year later had quite a major historical impact on the city. most of the places mentioned still exist and even the sites of some of the plague pits are protected from building development. For a Londoner like me, that makes it all the more poignant. Bear in mind that though fictional, it is almost certainly based on anecdotes from people who lived through the event and the numbers in the Bills of Moratlity are real. It is reckoned that 15% of the population died during that period. Whilst gruesome, it is heartening to see how social solidarity and empathy appeared, across all classes and faiths, in the face of a common threat. I'm not sure the same would happen these days.

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