Pepys
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Pepys. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
peps, Samuel (1633-1703), an English gentleman. He was the son of a London tailor. He was educated at Cambridge, and, having the faculty of making himself useful and agreeable, he soon obtained the patronage of those in power and was for many years in one branch or another of the public service . A peculiar light is thrown on the education of that day by a note to the effect that, on entering upon a secretaryship in the navy department , he found it necessary to learn the multiplication table of which he had never heard before. Interest in Pepys arises from a diary which he began January 1, 1660, and discontinued May 31, 1669, on account of defective eyesight. It was written from day to day in a peculiar shorthand that preserved it from the eye of the curious. It was deposited with the rest of his books in the library of his old college, where it was discovered and deciphered by the Rev. J. Smith. The first edition appeared in 1825, a more complete edition in 1893. It is a quaint and curious jotting of domestic affairs and the gossip of the court. He set down the happenings--good and bad--just as they appeared to a mind apparently without delicacy or imagination. It is a moving panorama of the streets, social functions, and politics of the day, enabling the historian to construct an adequate picture of the court of Charles II, the most brilliant and the most wicked that ever surrounded a British king. Pepys himself left a reputation for uprightness in office and meanness in private life. His wife was a spirited Huguenot woman. He treated her in a petty, sordid way that provoked family discord.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
SAMUEL, an English author, secretary to the admiralty in the reigns of Charles II. and James II.; born in Brampton, Huntingdonshire, in 1632, and educated at Cambridge. He early acquired the patronage of Sir Edward Montagu, afterward Earl of Sandwich, who employed him as secretary in the expedition for bringing Charles II. from Holland. On his return he was appointed one of the principal officers of the navy. In 1673, when the king took the admiralty into his own hands, Pepys was appointed secretary to that office, and performed duties credit. During the excitement of the Popish Plot he was committed to the Tower, but was after some time discharged without a trial, and reinstated in his office at the admiralty, which he held till the abdication of James II. He was president of the Royal Society for two years; but his title to fame rests upon his "Diary" (1659-1669), which is a most entertaining work, revealing the writer's own character very plainly, give ing an excellent picture of contemporary life, and of great value for the history of the court of Charles II. It is in shorthand, was discovered among a collection of books, prints and manuscripts bequeathed by Pepys to Magdalene College, Cambridge, and was first printed in 1825. He died in 1703. SAMUEL PEPYS