John Evelyn’s Diary and Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber

 John Evelyn’s Diary and Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber

John Evelyn was an English writer, landowner, horticulturist, and government official during the restoration period. He was a founding member of the Royal Society. He was very interested in growing trees and he wrote a research paper titled “Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesty's Dominions” and presented it to the Royal Society in the year 1662. Later on, it was published as a book in the year 1664. Thus, John Evelyn was a writer with scientific acumen and a great interest in botany. He was a friend of Charles II and was a part of the influential group that also had Christopher Wren, Samuel Pepys, and Robert Boyle.

John Evelyn’s Diary or ‘The Diary of John Evelyn’ is a memoir that he began writing at the age of 11 and continued writing till his death in 1706. It was a period when no regular magazines or newspapers were published. His diary became a primary source of historical information. Evelyn’s Diary is a comprehensive source of information that 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. John Evelyn was a Commissioner for sick seamen and prisoners of war during the Dutch Wars. He made extensive diary entries about the war and his experiences with the sick soldiers and prisoners of war. His experiences led him to work for the establishment of Chelsea and Greenwich Hospitals. He was a prolific writer who wrote about architecture, art, arboriculture, fashion, and pollution. In his Diary he recorded the events and experiences of his long and remarkable life and also wrote about his friends, relatives, and family members. While Samuel Pepys is a better-known diarist of that era now, John Evelyn’s Diary became the ground on which Pepy’s Diary gained success. The Oxford Standard Authors edition of John Evelyn’s Diary was edited by E. S. de Beer, and it was first published by Oxford University Press in 1959.

Evelyn’s other major work was Sylva which he presented as a research paper to the Royal Society in the year 1662. The sub-title of this paper was A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber. Timber is a wood of considerable commercial value and as the sub-title suggests, this paper was written to discuss and develop better ways for the propagation of timber for better uses. Sylva means all the types of forest trees growing in a particular region or country.

He warned that the continued growth of glassworks and iron industries would have dramatic consequences for British timber resources. He vehemently advocated an extensive reforestation program and the systematic foundation of forests and parks in England. Evelyn received a lot of attention for his assertion that careless deforestation would cause the downfall of the British fleet, which was heavily dependent on wood. His writings reflected a sense of responsibility towards future generations and Sylva is now perceived as one of the most important precursors of modern sustainability discourse. Along with timber, Evelyn discussed the various other kinds of forest trees, their cultivation, and their uses. It was published in a book format in the year 1662. This book established John Evelyn as a distinguished prose writer of the 17th century.

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