List of longest diaries explained

This is a list of diaries notable for their exceptional length, primarily by word count but also by duration.

Notes
Laura 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 Webb1.79 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

  1. 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.
  2. Book: Masters . Alexander . A life discarded–148 diaries found in a skip . 2016 . 4th Estate . London . 9780008130794.
  3. News: Martin . Douglas . Robert Shields, Wordy Diarist, Dies at 89 . 8 September 2022 . New York Times. 29 October 2007.
  4. Anastas . Benjamin . The Most Ambitious Diary in History . 8 September 2022 . The New Yorker . 1 November 2021.
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. News: Wilby . Peter . Tony Benn: Peter Wilby reads the diaries . 2 June 2023 . The Guardian . 22 March 2014.
  8. Book: Benn . Tony . Diaries 2001–2007. More time for politics . 2007 . Hutchinson . London . ix.
  9. Book: Mücke . Ulrich . The Diary of Heinrich Witt (vol. 1) . 2016 . Brill . Leiden & Boston . 978-90-04-27315-3.
  10. Book: Rosen . Robert . Beaver Street–A history of modern pornography . 2011 . Headpress . London. p.259.
  11. Book: Kominars . Sheppard . Write for life: Healing body, mind and spirit through journal writing . 2007 . Cleveland Clinic Press. p.56.
  12. 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 .
  13. 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.
  14. News: Filbert . Jim . Oh my word! . Pike County Express . 27 March 2024. p.6. Access behind paywall.
  15. Web site: Evans . Mike . Meet Mr. Gadd, 83, of Fontwell Magna in Dorset . 23 December 2014 . 8 September 2022.
  16. News: de Bruxelles . Simon . Diaries record a life in mind numbing detail . 8 September 2022 . The Times . 10 August 2013.
  17. Web site: Cronenwett . Philip . Dear Diary… . 20 November 2024.
  18. Book: Blythe . Ronald . The pleasures of diaries: Four centuries of private writing . 1989 . Pantheon Books . New York . 106.
  19. Book: Mallon . Thomas . A book of one’s own: People and their diaries . 1985 . Pan Books . London . 76.
  20. Web site: Beatrice Webb's Diaries . LSE Digital Library . 15 November 2024.
  21. Web site: Longest kept diary . Guinness World Records . 8 September 2022.
  22. 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.
  23. Book: Batts . John Stuart . British manuscript diaries of the nineteenth century: An annotated listing . 1976 . Rowman & Littlefield . Totowa, New Jersey . 52.
  24. 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 .