List of longest diaries explained
This is a list of diaries notable for their exceptional length, primarily by word count but also by duration.
NotesLaura Penrose Francis[1] | 40 million | 60 years | 1952–2012 | Word count and duration as of 2012.[2] . |
| 37.5 million | 25 years | 19721997 | Exact word count not available until 2049.[3] Wrongly given as 3.75 million in one online report. |
| 30 million | 80 years | 19322013 | Word count is estimated; the manuscript runs to 65,000 pages[4] |
Joseph Holloway | 25 million | 45 years | 1899–1944 | "Dublin playgoer." Published diaries 1899 to 1944.[5] [6] |
| 22 million | 71 years | 19271998 | |
| 20 million[7] | 69 years | 19402009 | A better estimate is 15.7m. "The full unedited diaries [in 2007] amount to around fifteen million words."[8] |
Heinrich Witt | 18 million | 70 years | 1859–1890 | Witt (1799–1892) was born in Germany, lived in Peru, and wrote in English.[9] |
| 17 million | 44 years | 19191963 | 155 volumes.[10] Other accounts state 10 million words.[11] |
| 12 million[12] | 28 years | 19391967 | Participant in Mass Observation project |
Dr. John Henry Salter | 10 million | 83 years | 18491932 | GP of Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex.[13] |
Ellsworth James | 5.9 million | 63 years | 1944–2007 | Word count does not include first year (1944) which was handwritten. 1946-2007 manually typed.[14] |
John Gadd | 4 million | 45 years | 19752020 | Started in 1947[15] but kept consistently from 1975[16] |
George C. Edler | 2.859 million | 80 years | 1907–1987 | 76 volumes.[17] 1987 and 1988 Guinness Book of World Records has different dates. |
| 2 million | 25 years | 1837–1861 | Over 2 million words in 39 notebooks. [18] [19] |
Beatrice Webb | 1.79 million | 70 years | 18731943 | Diaries available online.[20] |
| Unknown | 91 years | 18961987 | Guinness World Record for longest kept diary.[21] [22] |
Caroline Bray | Unknown | 87 years | 18151902 | Née Hennell, she was the intimate friend of George Eliot. Diary and commonplace book. [23] |
| Unknown | 57 years | 18931950 | Word count not stated; the manuscript exceeds 50,000 pages[24] | |
William Matthews, in his British diaries: An annotated bibliography of British diaries written between 1442 and 1942 (University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1950) lists 400 diaries with a duration of 30 years or more.
Notes and References
- Said to be a pseudonym. News: Beard . Mary . A Life Discarded by Alexander Masters – the biography of a nameless person . The Guardian . 15 May 2024 . 14 May 2016.
- Book: Masters . Alexander . A life discarded–148 diaries found in a skip . 2016 . 4th Estate . London . 9780008130794.
- News: Martin . Douglas . Robert Shields, Wordy Diarist, Dies at 89 . 8 September 2022 . New York Times. 29 October 2007.
- Anastas . Benjamin . The Most Ambitious Diary in History . 8 September 2022 . The New Yorker . 1 November 2021.
- Book: Havlice . Patricia Pate . And so to bed. A bibliography of diaries published in English (1987) . 1987 . The Scarecrow Press, Inc. . Metuchen, N.J., & London. p.387
- Book: Hogan . Robert . O'Neill . Michael J. . Joseph Holloway’s Abbey Theatre. A selection from his unpublished journal, Impressions of a Dublin Playgoer . 1967 . Southern Illinois University Press . Cardondale & Edwardsville. p.vi
- News: Wilby . Peter . Tony Benn: Peter Wilby reads the diaries . 2 June 2023 . The Guardian . 22 March 2014.
- Book: Benn . Tony . Diaries 2001–2007. More time for politics . 2007 . Hutchinson . London . ix.
- Book: Mücke . Ulrich . The Diary of Heinrich Witt (vol. 1) . 2016 . Brill . Leiden & Boston . 978-90-04-27315-3.
- Book: Rosen . Robert . Beaver Street–A history of modern pornography . 2011 . Headpress . London. p.259.
- Book: Kominars . Sheppard . Write for life: Healing body, mind and spirit through journal writing . 2007 . Cleveland Clinic Press. p.56.
- Meschia . Karen . 2010-07-01 . Naomi the Poet and Nella the Housewife: Finding a Space to Write from: The Wartime Diaries of Naomi Mitchison and Nella Last . Miranda . 2 . 10.4000/miranda.1238 . 2108-6559. free .
- Book: Matthews . William . British diaries: An annotated bibliography of British diaries written between 1442 and 1942 . 1950 . University of California Press . Berkeley and Los Angeles. p.259.
- News: Filbert . Jim . Oh my word! . Pike County Express . 27 March 2024. p.6. Access behind paywall.
- Web site: Evans . Mike . Meet Mr. Gadd, 83, of Fontwell Magna in Dorset . 23 December 2014 . 8 September 2022.
- News: de Bruxelles . Simon . Diaries record a life in mind numbing detail . 8 September 2022 . The Times . 10 August 2013.
- Web site: Cronenwett . Philip . Dear Diary… . 20 November 2024.
- Book: Blythe . Ronald . The pleasures of diaries: Four centuries of private writing . 1989 . Pantheon Books . New York . 106.
- Book: Mallon . Thomas . A book of one’s own: People and their diaries . 1985 . Pan Books . London . 76.
- Web site: Beatrice Webb's Diaries . LSE Digital Library . 15 November 2024.
- Web site: Longest kept diary . Guinness World Records . 8 September 2022.
- Book: Loftus . Ernest . Diary 1986 . Thurrock Museum. The final extant diary is for 1986, final entry is on Wednesday 31 December. Inspection made 9 July 2024.
- Book: Batts . John Stuart . British manuscript diaries of the nineteenth century: An annotated listing . 1976 . Rowman & Littlefield . Totowa, New Jersey . 52.
- Web site: February 28, 2013 . Diaries of William Lyon Mackenzie King . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20180416101640/https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/politics-government/prime-ministers/william-lyon-mackenzie-king/Pages/diaries-william-lyon-mackenzie-king.aspx . 16 April 2018 . 17 April 2018 . Library and Archives Canada .