tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41397588098587558402012-01-27T15:24:11.616ZOccasional posts on diaries in the newsPaul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.comBlogger4401100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-46865040010677281462012-01-24T20:51:00.003Z2012-01-25T08:21:08.483Z

Edith Wharton, American writer of high society novels, was born a century and a half ago today. Most famous, perhaps, for writing Ethan Frome, she spent many of her early years travelling in Europe, and then chose to live in France for her last 30 years. Her diaries are not very extensive and have never been published, but the manuscripts, held by Yale and Indiana university libraries, are often

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-24164847412209919772012-01-24T15:44:00.003Z2012-01-24T15:51:41.965Z

Today is the 80th anniversary of the birth of Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen, a Dutch-born Catholic priest who worked as an author documenting his restless personal and religious quests. In one of his many books, The Genessee Diary, Nouwen describes the inner workings of his mind while living - for seven months - as a monk in a Trappist monastery. His concludes that a monastery is not built to solve

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-91151192007284448742012-01-16T16:48:00.002Z2012-01-16T17:02:28.836Z

One hundred and seventy five years ago today, a household servant called William Tayler was complaining to his diary - started just days earlier to practice writing - about being confined indoors to help with those sick during an influenza epidemic. The next day, though, he did get out and about, and subsequently wrote in his diary of ‘a new machine for scrapeing the roads and streets’ that could

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-77616848081717703272012-01-10T18:01:00.001Z2012-01-10T18:04:03.905Z

New York Diaries - Random House, The Atlantic, AmazonPolice kept Eddie Gilfoyle’s wife’s diaries hidden - BBC, Daily MailEdinburgh schoolgirl’s experience of war - Edinburgh Evening NewsThe diaries of Cornelius Van Horn - News Herald (Panama City)Dixie Diaries by Irving Long - Richard County Daily JournalPrisoner of war diary gets Twitter treatment - The Telegraph

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-30335641929716641802011-12-31T16:33:00.002Z2011-12-31T16:36:48.832Z

Jim Reeves: His Untold Story (Kindle edition) - Amazon, Panola WatchmanCivil War 150 Legacy Project - Fox News, www.virginiacivilwar.orgPrisoner of war Albert Ions’ diaries - Chronicle LiveJourney to the Abyss: The Diaries of Count Harry Kessler - The New York Times, Amazon,More on Kate McCann’s diaries - The Guardian

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-65346702212715171282011-12-31T16:05:00.000Z2011-12-31T16:32:54.989Z

Robert Boyle, the great English scientist, died 320 years ago today. Famed for his role as the father of chemistry and modern experimental methods, he is also known for discovering Boyle’s Law, various inventions, and for leaving behind a large number of writings, not least his workdiaries. These latter have been made freely available online thanks to the Robert Boyle Project at Birkbeck College,

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-85239887395226293162011-12-14T11:23:00.003Z2011-12-14T12:56:18.873Z

One hundred years ago today, the Norwegian Roald Amundsen and four others in his team were the first explorers to reach the South Pole. A British party led by Robert Falcon Scott, who had made a previous, but unsuccessful, attempt to reach the Pole, was not far behind, and arrived a month later. However, whereas the Norwegian party returned home, Scott’s party all died from cold and hunger. Scott

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-7550273662261726842011-12-11T14:35:00.002Z2011-12-11T14:43:23.347Z

19th century cricketer’s diaries up for auction - Chilcotts, Yeovil PeopleElgar’s diaries to attend concert in Norwich! - Norfolk Eastern Daily PressChaplain At Gallipoli - Kenneth Best’s war diaries - Henley StandardLeveson inquiry and Kate McCann’s diary - The Guardian, Mail Online

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-44436382382177421312011-12-07T22:57:00.002Z2011-12-08T12:29:28.068Z

Today marks the 60th anniversary of the attack by Japan on Pearl Harbour that brought the United States into the Second World War. A few diary extracts recording the event are available online. East Carolina University has one of the best collection of digital resources on Pearl Harbour; the editor of Skagit River Journal has made available the diary entry of his father; and Brandon University

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-90202048399658757952011-12-05T21:27:00.002Z2011-12-06T17:39:09.036Z

‘Met John Logie Baird; a charming man - a shy, quietly-spoken Scot. He could serve as a model for the schoolboy’s picture of a shock-haired, modest, dreamy, absent-minded inventor. Nevertheless shrewd.’ This is from the diary of Sydney Moseley, a journalist and writer, who died sixty years ago today; but, he is not well-remembered other than for his association with Baird, and writing a biography

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-35835429944657946352011-12-05T09:30:00.006Z2012-01-16T17:05:35.183Z

The History Press has just published Brighton in Diaries, a collection of diary extracts about the city, one of Britain’s most vibrant seaside resorts. This is my first published book about diaries. Essentially, it consists of cameos of people, famous and ordinary, young and old, serious and cynical, but with Brighton always setting the scene: like a play, perhaps, in which, despite a medley of

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-77958160621155017582011-11-29T09:21:00.006Z2011-11-30T09:56:21.251Z

Viking, part of the Penguin group, has just published the diaries of Rodney Foster, who served in the Home Guard during the Second World War. He rose to become a major within the organisation but resigned a few months later. Such journals are very rare since Home Guard personnel were forbidden from keeping diaries. However, contrary to Penguin’s publicity that this is the first Home Guard diary

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-44041989432775684842011-11-19T22:39:00.002Z2011-11-21T11:00:08.010Z

Xu Zhimo, a much celebrated Chinese poet, might have been celebrating his 80th birthday today had he not died young in a plane crash. Collections of his romantic poems and essays continue to be published, as do biographies celebrating the romance of his life. By incorporating their lives into their literature, one writer says, he and his friends elevated personal details to the level of artistic

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-1178312342854451382011-11-19T11:20:00.003Z2011-11-19T11:36:57.361Z

Today marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, a remarkable Russian remembered for advances in science and achievements in poetry. He must have kept a diary because one extract is quoted widely across the internet, but I can find no source for this extract, nor any further information about his diaries.Lomonosov was born on 19 November 1711 in the village of

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-1775690307738443212011-11-10T21:07:00.004Z2011-11-11T09:43:19.992Z

A remarkable diary left behind by the famous British explorer and missionary David Livingstone has just been revealed, literally, for the first time - and published on the internet - thanks to a trans-Antlantic team of scholars and scientists. The so-called 1871 Field Diary was written in the run-up to Livingstone’s meeting with the journalist Henry Morton Stanley, and covers a horrific massacre

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-39020986438363108822011-11-10T09:01:00.000Z2011-11-11T09:58:40.278Z

We were afraid to publish coup diaries - Today ZamanHonour killing victim’s diary - The Vancouver SunDiaries of illustrator M Louise Baker - The New York TimesSaddam Hussein’s handwritten diaries - Al Arabiya NewsEinstein on the Road - Leo Baeck Institute, Amazon Look Inside

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-20526769516581127892011-10-31T16:14:00.003Z2011-10-31T17:12:42.686Z

Some five hundred and sixty years ago today, or thereabouts, was born Christopher Columbus, probably the most famous explorer of all time. His voyages across the Atlantic brought much knowledge to Europe of the American continents, and also set in motion Spanish colonisation - a process which would have the most profound impact on the future of the world. Fortunately, Columbus kept detailed logs

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-71104318994425310172011-10-26T20:08:00.004+01:002011-10-26T20:43:54.856+01:00

A classic Wild West confrontation between cowboys and sheriffs, subsequently made famous by books and movies and dubbed ‘Gunfight at the O. K. Corral’, took place in Tombstone, a silver boom town near the Mexican border, exactly 130 years ago today. Extraordinarily for the time and place, one resident of Tombstone, George Whitwell Parsons, was also a keen diarist. Though not in town on the day of

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-32416489327779835232011-10-21T20:07:00.003+01:002011-10-23T18:27:31.680+01:00

Arthur Schnitzler, the Austrian author who wrote sexy plays and stream-of-consciousness short stories long before they were fashionable, died 80 years ago today. He was also a committed diarist, documenting some parts of his life - not least his sexual activity - in meticulous detail. The diaries have only been published in German, in ten volumes; and even English-language biographies, which rely

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-45820159378545909912011-10-18T23:34:00.001+01:002011-10-19T12:35:22.897+01:00

Thomas Edison, one of the most famous and prolific inventors of all time, died 80 years ago today. The distribution of electricity and the incandescent light bulb, the phonograph, and the motion picture camera are all counted among his contributions to, what is often called, ‘modern life’. Although not known as a diarist, he did - for a few days in the summer of 1885 - keep a journal; and this

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-89787311600360928152011-10-15T20:34:00.001+01:002011-10-17T09:33:17.976+01:00

Nathaniel Dance Holland, a painter of some distinction and a founder member of the Royal Academy, died 200 years ago today. Although he didn’t keep a diary himself, he is mentioned many times in Joseph Farington’s diary, one of the most important sources of historical information about the London art world in the period.The third son of architect George Dance the Elder, Nathaniel was born in 1735

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-51096588684406443102011-10-10T18:17:00.001+01:002011-10-10T18:22:22.099+01:00

The diary of a secret feminist Zionist - HaaretzAmanda Knox’s prison diary - Mail Online, The AustralianFriedrich Kellner’s diary published - Spiegel Online, WikipediaCourt to decide ownership of Chiang Kai-shek’s diaries - The China PostIrish murder - French police to study suspect’s diary - Independent.iePolina Zherebtsova’s diary of the Chechen War - Sundry Translations blog; The GuardianDiary

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-10436422755640399582011-10-08T14:41:00.002+01:002011-10-08T14:47:15.281+01:00

‘Oh! how I wished I had the power to petrify the living, and animate the marble.’ So wrote Gideon Mantell, a 19th century doctor and obsessive fossil hunter, one hundred and sixty years ago today, following a visit to the Great Exhibition.Both Mantell and The Great Exhibition have been the subject of recent articles in The Diary Review - see Gideon Mantell - geologist and A terrible ordeal - but

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-65716017901614029382011-10-04T21:41:00.000+01:002011-10-06T20:41:49.616+01:00

Frederic Remington, a leading figure in American art of the Wild West, was born a century and a half ago today. His paintings and sculptures - such as The Broncho Buster - remain much sought after today. Thanks to a bequest by his wife, Eva, the Frederic Remington Art Museum, located in Ogdensburg, New York, has a large collection of Remington art and artefacts, including his (somewhat scanty)

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-81105360620965365122011-09-30T13:59:00.003+01:002011-09-30T14:49:42.060+01:00

Lady Mary Coke, a friend of the politician and historian, Horace Walpole, died two centuries ago today. She seems to have been a society woman of some character, but little achievement. She is remembered today partly because of her (rather dull) diary, and partly because of her stormy friendship with Walpole, who called her violent and mad.Mary was born in 1727, the fifth and youngest daughter of

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-20141417425604146182011-09-27T18:38:00.001+01:002011-09-29T06:50:10.631+01:00

‘The most beautiful poem there is, is life - life which discerns its own story in the making, in which inspiration and self-consciousness go together and help each other . . .’ This is the French moral philosopher Henri-Frédéric Amiel, born 190 years ago today, writing in his diary on his 31st birthday. Today, he is largely remembered thanks to this diary, which, in a way, he turned into a

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-1247000182117424652011-09-26T09:05:00.001+01:002011-09-26T09:07:52.248+01:00

Lady Soames diary-based memoir - The Churchill Centre, Random HouseFrench murder probe in doubt over suspect’s diaries - Independent.ieCharlton Heston: The Ben-Hur Diaries - Home Media MagazineDiaries reveal 20-year-old nanny’s love for boy of 14 - Mail OnlineDiary clue in case of missing Jacque Waller - Southeast Missourian

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-89234910849555842542011-09-16T17:02:00.005+01:002011-09-16T18:22:06.051+01:00

Today marks 360 years since the birth of the German doctor and naturalist, Engelbert Kaempfer. His fame rests on two books, both largely about Japan, where he stayed for two years during a period when the country was very much closed to foreigners. The British Library holds some of Kaempfer’s diaries, and one of his published books - History of Japan - contains several narratives for journeys

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-85562412047189314492011-09-06T19:25:00.004+01:002011-09-07T09:30:17.367+01:00

Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the patriarch of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, was born in Germany three centuries ago today. A fervently religious man, he kept meticulous diaries - documenting his pastoral acts, social interactions, and administrative duties - which are considered a ‘treasure trove for the genealogists’.Muhlenberg was born on 6 September 1711 in Einbeck, Lower Saxony,

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-42873654502665495702011-09-05T16:56:00.001+01:002011-09-05T16:59:38.640+01:00

Diaries of couple held hostage by Somali pirates - Mail OnlineDiaries of Winston Churchill’s daughter - Mail Online, TransworldFamily seeks to bar missing woman’s diaries from internet - Utah News, Examiner.com1860s diary of magistrate from Windsor, Ontario - The Windsor StarSouth Korean burglar’s diary evidence - The Straits TimesDefrocked priest in Australia sues over stolen diaries - Newcastle

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-77435606163918724022011-08-25T11:49:00.002+01:002011-08-25T11:52:57.570+01:00

Diaries of foreign A-bomb survivors on display at Hiroshima museum - Japan Times Portfolios of the Poor - National Catholic Reporter, Amazon British Museum to host hajj exhibition - BBC Confederate soldier’s diaries go to Washington and Lee University - Washington Post Australian search for lost indigenous languages - AFP More diaries from Chris Mullin - The Guardian, The Spectator, Daily

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-33161694348114330922011-08-15T15:36:00.006+01:002011-08-15T16:56:06.358+01:00

Walter Scott, one of Britain’s greatest writers and the first to gain international celebrity status, was born 240 years ago today. His novels - such as Ivanhoe - and poetry are still widely read today, but his diaries, though still in print and considered by some to be a ‘superb work’, are less well known. They cover only the last years of his life. In the very first entry, Scott explains how he

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-82890770094973396472011-08-10T16:26:00.004+01:002011-08-10T17:25:38.377+01:00

It is thirty years to the day that Sir Alan, or Tommy, Lascelles died. He served as a royal courtier for most of his professional life, rising to become Private Secretary to King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. His name is remembered today for it was given to a set of conditions he envisaged - The Lascelles Principles - which should allow a Sovereign to refuse a Prime Minister’s request to

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-91647647992695003632011-08-09T11:38:00.001+01:002011-08-09T11:41:08.434+01:00

Norway killings: Breivik’s diary - The Telegraph From Military Zone 5 - Vietnam war diary - Vietnam News Camus killed by KGB, Czech diary indicates - Prague Daily Monitor New Zealand columnist on diaries - Sunday Star Times A mother’s confession to killing her baby - Toronto Sun Orthodox Jew buys Mengele’s diaries - Haaretz, Haaretz, European Jewish Press

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-48747287037192375052011-08-03T15:27:00.003+01:002011-08-03T18:08:11.924+01:00

Lord Longford, the politician and would-be social reformer, died a decade ago today. For much of his later life, he seemed out of sync with public opinion, whether because of his stance against the gay rights movement or his early campaign for the release of Myra Hyndley, who, with Ian Brady, murdered five young persons in the mid-1960s. A collection of diary entries from the last years of his

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-52496109483951006332011-07-27T19:38:00.003+01:002011-07-27T22:18:13.679+01:00

Today marks the 330th anniversary of the death of young Sir Thomas Isham, the third to hold the Isham Baronetcy title. As a teenager, his father, the second Isham Baronet, ordered Thomas to keep a diary in Latin, as an educational exercise. And it is thanks to this lively and colourful diary - said to be the only diary by a 15 year old boy in 17th century England - that the Third Baronet is

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-83351573448387461302011-07-24T22:18:00.002+01:002011-07-24T22:27:25.197+01:00

Today marks the centenary of Hiram Bingham’s discovery of Machu Picchu, an Inca citadel in Peru, now one of the world’s most famous tourist sites. The anniversary gives me another chance to revisit my own diaries since, almost exactly 35 years ago, I was there, a youthful round-the-world traveller, ‘breathless’ but, nevertheless, trying to convince myself that I wasn’t really impressed.Machu

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-12796995152702453712011-07-22T21:00:00.001+01:002011-07-23T13:18:16.206+01:00

It is 390 years today since the birth of Anthony Ashley Cooper for whom the title Earl of Shaftesbury was created during the reign of Charles II. The title has survived and is currently held by Nicholas Ashley-Cooper, the 12th Earl of Shaftesbury. The first Earl kept a diary, albeit with only very brief entries, largely recording his work as a justice of the peace. One longer entry, though,

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-23897180796945559762011-07-17T18:21:00.001+01:002011-07-18T18:53:49.235+01:00

Hannah Senesh might have been 90 years old today, had she lived past the age of 23 when she was convicted of treason and executed by a German firing squad. Although a Hungarian Jew that had emigrated to Palestine, she returned to Europe to take part in a dangerous military plan to rescue Jews from Hungary. She kept a beautifully-written diary from the age of 13 until the day of her death, and, to

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-65056158605470747172011-07-16T22:35:00.002+01:002011-07-17T19:29:15.413+01:00

Today marks the 350th anniversary of the birth of Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, one of Canada’s great soldiers and explorers, though at the time his homeland was still called New France - indeed he is dubbed Canada’s first hero. A few of his journals have been published, notably those recording voyages to the Mississippi to establish a colony in Louisiana. Other accounts of the same exploration

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-63086597671684399362011-07-16T11:19:00.002+01:002011-07-16T11:22:45.027+01:00

Armed robber nabbed by his own diary entry - The MirrorMore diaries from Alastair Campbell - The Guardian, Amazon. . . and Campbell on the perils of diary writing - The Huffington PostMore of Mengele’s diaries to be auctioned (see Mengele’s vile ‘diary’) - US News, Alexander AutographsWhat Murdoch learned from the Hitler Diaries - The New Yorker

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-1961375335740729812011-07-13T19:23:00.002+01:002011-07-13T22:09:10.277+01:00

Allan Cunningham, a British botanist who spent many years exploring Australia’s outback, was born 220 years ago today. Very soon after arriving in Australia, he joined an early expedition across the Blue Mountains being led by John Oxley, one of the colony’s first explorers and surveyors. Despite following river beds, water supply was a daily problem at times, as were the natives whose presence

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-38951618423080405272011-07-06T09:40:00.004+01:002011-09-08T14:43:14.284+01:00

Thomas Asline Ward, a man who devoted himself largely to serving the town of Sheffield, was born all of 230 years ago today. He may have well have been forgotten but for his diary, which was first published in instalments in a local paper. Ward visited London in the early part of the 19th century, and his diary provides an interesting and colourful account of the busy city.Ward was born in

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-34519529042383332572011-07-02T15:28:00.002+01:002011-07-02T18:24:31.513+01:00

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the death of Robert Lindsay Mackay, an infantry soldier in the First World War, present at the famous battles of the Somme and Ypres. While in action, he managed to keep a near daily diary of his activities, and this, though not published in print, has been made available online by one of his grandchildren. Of particular note are entries about ‘MUD’ and

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-61707421726840076632011-06-29T07:10:00.003+01:002011-06-29T07:21:19.017+01:00

Today marks 150 years since the death of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, a popular poet in her time, who was married to Robert Browning, another significant poet of the era. The only diary material of Barrett’s that has been published relates to a period in her 20s when she was still living with her father on the Hope End estate in Herefordshire. Her diary at the time is full of concerns about having

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-27559512753060366372011-06-24T11:16:00.002+01:002011-06-24T11:19:07.253+01:00

New Che Guevara diary published in Cuba (see also Che’s last days) - BBC, The GuardianArrested Maoist’s diary reveals top secrets - The Times of IndiaObscene Diary: The Secret Archive of Samuel Steward - PRWeb, The Museum of SexDiaries expose missionaries’ ‘spiritual war’ on uncontacted Indians - Survival InternationalUniversity of Iowa puts civil war diaries online - press-citizen.com,

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-48082648561843199872011-06-22T21:47:00.002+01:002011-06-22T22:52:52.882+01:00

One hundred years ago today, the British people were celebrating the coronation of King George V and his wife Queen Mary. Both George and Mary kept diaries, and although these have not been published, a few extracts are in the public domain, including some about their Coronation Day. In one, George calls the day ‘a terrible ordeal’ - though without further explanation.George V, born in 1865, was

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-39363591641660615412011-06-16T09:03:00.005+01:002011-06-16T12:03:03.092+01:00

Baron Reith of Stonehaven, the first and very influential manager of the British Broadcasting Company (later Corporation - BBC), died 40 years ago today. His diaries, when they were published posthumously, revealed a man rather admiring of Hitler policies in the pre-war years, and one with a very strong and long-lasting antipathy to Winston Churchill.John Charles Walsham Reith was born in 1889

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-80914603484270855482011-06-15T08:32:00.002+01:002011-06-15T09:08:54.949+01:00

Philip Toynbee, a British literary novelist and critic, died 30 years ago today. Best remembered, perhaps, for his reviews in the Sunday broadsheet, The Observer, he also left behind two published diaries written after a debilitating period of depression and electroconvulsive therapy. The diaries record, more than anything else, Toynbee’s search for some meaning in his life.Toynbee was born in

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-74361813031365243942011-06-11T11:17:00.004+01:002011-06-11T13:54:23.513+01:00

Goose Lane Editions, a Canadian publishing company founded in 1954 and said to be one of the country’s most exciting showcases of home-grown literary talent, has, in the last couple of years, published several intriguing diaries. Those of Tappan Adney record his wonderings in the New Brunswick wilderness, in particular with exquisite details of birds, birchbark canoes and a caribou hunt; while

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-55313995588307372872011-06-01T16:16:00.002+01:002011-06-01T18:37:56.325+01:00

Today marks two hundred and ten years since the birth of the famous Mormon, Brigham Young, who founded Salt Lake City, and who was the first governor of Utah Territory. Sometimes called the American Moses, because of the way he led Mormon pioneers to settle in the arid region, he was also a polygamist who married over 50 times. Although several of Brigham’s journals are known to exist, only one -

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-91410784588211867372011-05-31T15:22:00.004+01:002011-05-31T15:46:10.685+01:00

Extensive new extracts from the diaries of Gideon Mantell, a 19th century surgeon who was obsessed with geology, have been made freely available online for the first time. Mantell is credited with instigating the scientific study and understanding of dinosaurs. Having lived in nearby Lewes all his life, he moved to Brighton hoping to attract rich patients among those drawn to the Royal Pavilion

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-33129292417134481652011-05-24T08:30:00.000+01:002011-05-24T08:35:18.028+01:00

The Diary: Three Centuries of Private Lives - Morgan Library, WNYC RadioDiary of man starving to death - The Telegraph, Daily MailThe Lost Diary of an African American Journalist - University Press of KansasThe diaries of 90 year old Maxine Fuller Weece - OutlookThe Great War diaries of one of Britain’s first black soldiers - The Scotsman

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-91254011473915770402011-05-21T23:21:00.002+01:002011-05-23T11:35:48.986+01:00

Today marks 170 years since the death of Julian Ursyn Niemcewicz, a great Polish patriot and writer. Having been active in politics during years of turbulence while Poland was trying to establish itself as a state, he found himself imprisoned, but then exiled himself to the US for several years. Although a regular diarist, only the diaries of his travels in America have been published in English.

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-37702333293770828542011-05-20T20:01:00.001+01:002011-05-24T08:22:33.697+01:00

Alfred Domett, a literary man who emigrated to New Zealand and became its prime minister for a short time, was born two centuries ago today. His diary, though not well known, is often quoted as a source of information about his friend, the much more famous poet Robert Browning, and other artists of the time.Domett was born in Camberwell, Surrey, on 20 May 1811. He studied at St John’s College,

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-20841279242110913712011-05-15T21:42:00.003+01:002011-05-15T22:04:11.139+01:00

Yale University Press has just published a first substantial edition of the journals written by Alfred Kazin, one of the most important American literary critics of the 20th century. The journals, the Press says, collectively tell the story of Kazin’s journey from Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood to his position as a dominant figure in twentieth-century cultural life.Kazin was born in 1915 in

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-34657938444468135462011-05-09T22:27:00.001+01:002011-05-10T10:55:21.321+01:00

Joseph Hunter, a little remembered Yorkshire antiquarian, died 150 years ago today. He started to keep a diary with some determination - perhaps to follow the example of Ralph Thoresby, another antiquarian who lived a century earlier - but doesn’t seem to have continued keeping it for long. Nevertheless, it provides some illuminating detail for those who study the history of reading.Hunter was

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-57810583035435815802011-05-02T18:29:00.002+01:002011-05-04T19:12:25.455+01:00

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the death of Sir George Jackson, a 19th century diplomat of quiet distinction. Though little-remembered today, his diaries and letters were edited by his wife (a slightly better-remembered author) and published not long after his death. Typically, the diaries describe his diplomatic life. One interesting entry focuses on the marriage of Prince William to

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-2578436980547525862011-05-01T22:42:00.003+01:002011-05-02T18:36:22.329+01:00

Today marks the 160th anniversary of the opening, by Queen Victoria, of the Great Exhibition held in Hyde Park, London, in 1851. It was the first international expo of its type, and was notable, among other things, for being housed in the Crystal Palace. Prince Albert was much involved in planning the exhibition, and the Queen, in her diary entry for the opening day, applauds him highly for the

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-61476138809481376122011-04-28T20:48:00.001+01:002011-04-29T08:59:37.234+01:00

Today, one hundred and ninety years ago, was born Anthony Ashley Cooper, who later became the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. A religious man, and, in his day, a well-known philanthropist, he campaigned to improve factory conditions and to restrict the hours children were allowed to work. His diaries were quoted extensively in a three volume biography published the year after his death.Cooper was born

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-427452327691079912011-04-26T19:20:00.002+01:002011-04-26T19:26:58.884+01:00

Phil Gyford slide show on his Pepys diary website - Phil GyfordNew diary revelations about Stalin - The Independent, Daily MailSouthport soldier’s diaries transcribed - Crosby HeraldDiaries of Charles Bean, Australian war reporter - ABC, Australian War MemorialCivil War Diaries, Blue and Gray - The Wall Street Journal

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-22748792264330584652011-04-17T21:18:00.001+01:002011-04-18T13:18:42.554+01:00

William Dyott, a soldier who served all over the world for the British army and faithfully kept a diary, was born exactly a quarter of a millennium ago today. He’s not well remembered - does not even have a Wikipedia entry for the moment! - but the published diary is available online and provides some extraordinary colourful descriptions of his experiences abroad, such as when he was sent to the

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-4221806459565932412011-04-16T22:30:00.001+01:002011-04-17T13:39:49.868+01:00

‘Rain so had out the picture of ‘Last of England’ & scraped at the head of the female, afterwards worked at it 2 hours without model & four hours with - using zinc white.’ This is Ford Madox Brown, a major British 19th century painter, associated with the Pre-Raphaelites, who was born 190 years ago today. Intermittently, he kept diary notes about his painting habits, though full of mundane

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-47678934201118987692011-04-14T19:34:00.000+01:002011-04-14T19:36:48.067+01:00

The Diary: Three Centuries of Private Lives - The Morgan Library & MuseumJournals of Exploration and Discovery in Western Australia - Hesperian Press, The West AustralianDiary revelations about Glenn Ford and Rita Hayworth - Los Angeles TimesDiary extracts of Birmingham taxi driver killer - Sunday Mercury

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-62065445952254135152011-04-07T22:46:00.005+01:002011-04-08T10:59:33.333+01:00

Soldier, politician and spymaster, Sir William Brereton - perhaps best remembered for besieging Chester during the Civil War - died 350 years ago today. As a youngish man, he travelled abroad, and kept detailed and interesting notes of his journeys, sometimes of local military tactics.Brereton was born at Handforth, Cheshire, but lost his father when only six. He was educated at Brasenose College

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-26868414044286044252011-04-06T18:58:00.002+01:002011-04-09T19:19:56.427+01:00

‘This morne my wife began, after her old manner, to braule and revile mee for wishing her only to wear such apparrell as was decent and comly, and accused mee for treading on her sore foote, with curses and othes; which to my knowledge I touched not.’ This is Adam Eyre - whose funeral took place 350 years ago today - a Yorkshire yeoman who is remembered chiefly for his diary and its vivid

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-17284594424589367752011-03-30T15:27:00.004+01:002011-03-30T15:59:25.654+01:00

Albania’s Greatest Friend: Aubrey Herbert and the Making of Modern Albania is being published today (at least according to Amazon’s website) by I B Tauris, a leading publisher of non-fiction books on history, politics and international relations. The book is based on the diaries and papers of Aubrey Herbert, a young aristocrat - said to be the inspiration for Sandy Arbuthnut, the fictional hero

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-62103161723037713202011-03-27T23:54:00.003+01:002011-03-28T12:12:25.178+01:00

‘I have reached a most venerable antiquity,’ wrote Anne Chalmers in her diary on turning 17. She was in London with her famous father, Dr Thomas Chalmers, being a tourist and enjoying the waxworks in Westminster Abbey and the sounds of street sellers. She died 120 years ago today.Anne Chalmers was born in 1813, to Thomas Chalmers and Grace Pratt who had married the year before. They moved to

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-24080908850257870882011-03-25T12:09:00.004Z2011-03-25T17:16:34.289Z

One of Britain’s early diarists, Walter Powell, was born 430 years ago this day. He appears to have been a reasonably successful businessman, acting as a steward for the Earl of Worcester, among other occupations. Though his diary - which covers half a century - is little more than a list of events, these are often surprisingly interesting, as when Powell records, during the Civil War, ‘Trowps

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-26393587941551396062011-03-17T10:36:00.001Z2011-03-17T10:45:42.855Z

The diaries of Queen Victoria’s Indian teacher - The History Press, BBCDiary entries by accused Canadian killer released to press - CBC Canada, Calgary SunDiary of nurse who treated WW1 soldiers for sale - Mail Online, Dreweatts AuctioneersEnglish Civil War diary kept by Nehemiah Wallington - The Rylands Collection, The Fresh OutlookDiary evidence in missing teenager case - Chicago TribuneOprah

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-76654541898162766422011-03-13T20:25:00.003Z2011-03-14T09:26:51.221Z

Today is the centenary of the birth of Ron Hubbard, the controversial figure who developed Dianetics and founded the Church of Scientology. In his day he had a huge following, and his church or cult grew at exponential rates, at least until undermined by legal and moral challenges, leading him to spend the last years of his life as a recluse. There doesn’t seem to be any evidence that he kept a

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-27328241962997137122011-03-10T17:11:00.004Z2011-03-10T17:34:04.379Z

Today is the 150th anniversary of the death of the great Ukrainian poet, artist and nationalist, Taras Shevchenko. He was exiled for a decade by the Tsar for subversive writings against Russian domination of Ukraine, and on being released started to keep a diary. This has been called a ‘living portrait of the implacable revolutionary’.Shevchenko was born a serf in the village of Moryntsi, then in

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-90155022225426088572011-03-08T22:46:00.006Z2011-03-09T11:09:24.912Z

Xu Xiake died three hundred and seventy years ago today. He was an intrepid traveller exploring his native China with pen in hand, so to speak, recording the details of his journeys with literary flare and a romantic style. He also made significant geographical discoveries. Extracts (all too few of them) of his travel diaries are available in English in Julian Ward’s academic analysis - Xu Xiake

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-88311723327746964242011-03-07T10:47:00.003Z2011-03-07T10:55:24.076Z

Mormon’s diaries reveal ‘depraved face of polygamy’ - Vancouver SunDiaries reveal Crown promises to Canadian aboriginal peoples - CNWThe Daniel W Cobb diaries - The New York TimesCompleting the Century by W John Johnson - Winnipeg Free PressElizabeth Taylor’s diaries in a bank vault - Daily ExpressHarrowing detail in WWI diary - The SunExtracts from Sarah Brown’s diaries - Mail Online, The

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-20441490446698167362011-02-20T19:10:00.002Z2011-02-21T21:04:14.536Z

‘She comes across in the newspaper and on television as an aggressive sort of woman, creating enemies wherever she goes. This is not at all the sort of impression she makes in the flesh.’ This is Cecil Harmsworth King, mid-20th century media mogul and Labour Party backer, writing in his diary about Margaret Thatcher a few years before she became leader of the Conservative Party. King, born 110

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-74375729858932989252011-02-18T20:23:00.005Z2011-02-21T21:04:49.469Z

Henry Martyn, a missionary with a talent for languages, was born 230 years ago today. He didn’t live much past his 30th birthday, but on that birthday, 200 years ago, he was writing in his diary about his unprofitable life, and pleaded with himself: ‘If I cannot act, and rejoice, and love with the ardour some did, oh, let me at least be holy, and sober, and wise.’Martyn was born in Cornwall on 18

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-73459982416987331452011-02-11T15:28:00.004Z2011-02-11T20:47:21.888Z

It is 1942, and wounded are pouring into Palestine because the hospitals in Cairo are overflowing. The Countess of Ranfurly, whose husband is a prisoner of war in Italy, is helping at a Jerusalem hospital, being taught to shoot, and scribbling in her diary whenever possible. But she is also enjoying society. She confides in her diary, for example, how, dining with the Duke of Gloucester, she

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-83390938611980615662011-02-07T21:59:00.001Z2011-02-08T14:28:28.270Z

Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the American aviation pioneer and diarist, died a decade ago today. Her life was inextricably bound up with that of her more famous husband, Charles, an extraordinary man who first introduced her to aviation, and with whom she made exploratory flights and wrote books. For many years, the couple never seemed out of the headlines, largely because their first child was

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-55199476864803693212011-02-02T11:07:00.003Z2011-02-02T11:20:30.502Z

Pen and Sword Books has just published the beautifully written and eloquent diary of Charles Crowe, a lieutenant serving in the British Army during the Peninsular Wars. It says the diary is a ‘masterpiece of journalism’ and one of the ‘great military memoirs’. Much of the diary is already freely available online thanks to Crowe’s distant descendant, JJ Heath-Caldwell, who tracked down the second

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-58242579841364939582011-02-01T17:59:00.006Z2011-02-01T21:16:59.034Z

‘Percy’s birthday. A divine day; sunny and cloudless; somewhat cold in the evening. It would be pleasant enough living in Pisa if one had a carriage and could escape from one’s house to the country without mingling with the inhabitants.’ This is Mary Shelley, who died 160 years ago today, writing in her diary while still a young woman and living in Italy with one of Britain’s most revered poets.

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-68446388990979008982011-01-28T18:25:00.002Z2011-01-28T18:29:24.760Z

Andy Coulson reveals he kept diary of Cameron years - Daily MailInside the Nixon Administration: The Secret Diary of Arthur Burns, 1969-1974 - University Press of Kansas, ForbesThe Diary: Three Centuries of Private Lives - The Morgan Library & MuseumMonks’ diaries shed light on climate forecasts - The Independent, BBC

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-90619112890089534832011-01-27T16:07:00.003Z2011-01-28T16:25:31.308Z

‘I went to High Mass at one of the most considerable Churches in the Town, & was astonished at the want of Devotion in the Audience; some were counting their Money, some arguing with the Beggars who interrupt you without ceasing, some receiving Messages and dispatching Answers, some beating Time to the Musick, but scarce any one praying except for one Moment when the Priest elevates the Host.’

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-16466184792646407002011-01-22T16:01:00.004Z2011-01-22T16:12:43.832Z

Today is the 110th anniversary of the death of Queen Victoria, Britain’s longest serving monarch, and indeed the longest serving female monarch in world history. Astonishingly, she kept a detailed diary for most of her life starting at the age of 13. Although the diaries are available to researchers, only a small fraction of them have ever been published, notably her earliest diaries. Somehow,

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-46288843186337326462011-01-21T12:59:00.003Z2011-01-21T13:47:33.588Z

‘There are about sixty-five white men, and fifteen negroes, under the command of a Major Wilcox. They say that they come for peace, to protect us from our own lawless cavalry - to protect us, indeed! with their negro troops, runaways from our own plantations! I would rather be skinned and eaten by wild beasts than beholden to them for such protection.’ This is Eliza Frances Andrews, who died 80

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-65855186547511779692011-01-16T22:56:00.002Z2011-01-16T23:13:51.395Z

The greatest Tamil diarist in history, Ananda Ranga Pillai, died 250 years ago today. He served under the French in Pondicherry, rising to becoming chief dubash (interpreter, broker and guide) under the governor general Joseph François Dupleix. All 12 volumes of his diaries translated into English are freely available online, and provide a remarkable first-hand account of colonised India in the

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-85474216401771403582011-01-15T12:08:00.003Z2011-01-15T16:20:56.718Z

It is 340 years since the birth of Abraham de la Pryme, a priest and antiquarian who lived but 34 years and is only remembered today because he kept a diary during his short life. Often written in retrospect the diary sometimes reads more like an autobiography, yet it is full amusing anecdotes - such as how one would-be highwayman got the better of an experienced one - and interesting notes on

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-89215213907844252782011-01-15T11:43:00.003Z2011-01-15T11:49:42.585Z

Happy tenth birthday Wikipedia. The Diary Review could not exist without it!Wikipedia provides many of the leads for The Diary Review thanks to its events listings for every date throughout the year. Also, Wikipedia has become the very best encyclopaedic source of biographical and historical information, and because of this almost every story on The Diary Review carries a link to it.When I first

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-75841835520907406752011-01-14T17:32:00.002Z2011-01-14T17:50:41.454Z

In his late 30s, Henry Fynes Clinton, an MP and classical scholar who died 230 years ago today, came to the conclusion that he would never make it as a public speaker, and carefully explained to his diary why he should, therefore, concentrate on ‘literary labours’. Indeed, the papers he left behind when he died were published as ‘Literary Remains’ and included his ‘Literary Journal’. The word ‘

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-24788893091358797562011-01-14T13:58:00.003Z2011-01-14T14:32:44.817Z

‘A stormy day, within doors; so I rushed out early and walked, walked, walked! If peace and quietness be not in one’s own power, one can always give oneself, at least, bodily fatigue.’ This is Jane Carlyle, possibly England’s greatest woman letter writer, turning her hand, and thoughts and emotions, to a diary. Today is the 210th anniversary of her birth.Jane Baillie Welsh was born on 14 January

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-67630756790405461322011-01-12T10:51:00.001Z2011-01-12T10:53:36.230Z

Amy Winehouse’s teenage diaries found in bin - People, Daily NewsThe Journal of Ann McMath, a New York orphan in the 1850s - State University of New York PressDiary of fisherman affected by 1954 H-bomb test - Japan TodayDiary evidence in murder of Manjit Panghali - The LinkMeera Syal opens up her teenage diaries - Sunday Mercury

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-23356892345843055092011-01-11T18:20:00.002Z2011-01-11T18:46:47.106Z

Buried exactly three hundred years ago was one Jacob Bee of Durham. He is only remembered today because he left behind a diary chronicling - albeit in brief - public and private events for the best part of 25 years. He was particularly fond of recording astronomical phenomena, such as blazing stars and fiery comets.The son of Nicholas Bee and Margaret Ussie, Jacob Bee was born in Durham, and

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-36959845681710372162011-01-06T16:18:00.004Z2011-01-11T18:58:07.432Z

It is 30 years today since the death of the Scottish writer A J Cronin. One of his best books - The Stars Look Down - was turned into a great British movie, produced by Igee Goldsmith and directed by Carol Reed. As far as I know Cronin never kept a diary, but since Igee was my own grandfather and I am a great fan of the film and the book, I’d like to mark the anniversary with the only diary link

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-56906813943342890522010-12-30T09:55:00.003Z2010-12-30T10:26:41.921Z

Today is the centenary of the birth of Paul Bowles, author of The Sheltering Sky, and lover of Morocco where he lived most of his life. He was not a natural diarist, far from it in fact, but towards the end of his life he was persuaded to keep a journal for a year or so by a publisher friend. At the time, Bowles made no pretence that his life or the diary was of the slightest interest - ‘Very

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-30329338639924544782010-12-19T23:18:00.002Z2010-12-20T21:40:53.525Z

José Lezama Lima, one of Cuba’s most celebrated literary figures of the 20th century, was born one hundred years ago today. To mark the centenary, a new edition of his diaries, first published in 1994, have been issued. A review on the Cuba Now website claims that Lezama’s inescapable metaphysic sprouts in every line of the diaries.Lezama was born on 19 December 2010 in a military encampment,

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-22899704139567441642010-12-19T21:08:00.002Z2010-12-19T21:15:48.454Z

Feud over Chiang Kai-shek diaries - The China Post, Taiwan TodayExcerpts from the diaries of a Mormon apostle - Signature BooksDiaries are a rare occurrence in Sri Lanka - Thuppahi’s BlogRaja’s diaries uncovered in Indian telecoms corruption case - IBNLIve.comThe diary of Mary Swasey Evans - The Argus ObserverThe diary of Betty Herndon Maury - Fredericksburg.com, The House of Caroline

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-50654508451662019042010-12-18T11:13:00.003Z2010-12-18T11:27:45.786Z

‘My faith, it it’s coquetry, I’m caught, if you can call it being caught to experience keen pleasure.’ This is the great womaniser and early French realist writer Stendhal confiding to his diary exactly 200 years ago today. According to Robert Sage, the editor and translator of his journals, Stendhal was an egotist with ‘a positive mania’ for recording his life and thoughts, for ‘putting black on

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Beethoven, possibly the world’s greatest composer, was baptised - his birth date being unknown - 240 years ago today. Although not a diarist of significance, he did leave behind some diary fragments from a Tagebuch or day book he started around 1813. The very first entry refers, enigmatically, to someone called A, possibly his ‘Immortal Beloved’. Otherwise, though, his diary jottings seem mostly

Paul K Lyonshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08355198374427824033noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4139758809858755840.post-65081629050502533812010-12-08T16:28:00.004Z2010-12-08T17:44:46.100Z

Benjamin Constant, one of France’s most important Napoleon-era political thinkers, died 180 years ago today. He is mostly remembered today, at least in the English-speaking world, for his novel, Adolphe, considered a French classic. His diaries were not published until more than 50 years after his death and caused a ‘great stir’ among writers of the day. Paul Bourget, for example, wrote of

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‘We were ushered into the dirtiest room I ever beheld, empty, and devoid of comfort. A few filthy lamps, stood on a sideboard - common chairs were placed around very dingy walls - and in the middle of this empty space, sat the old Duchess, a melancholy specimen of decayed royalty.’ So wrote Lady Charlotte Campbell (later Bury) exactly 200 years ago in the very first entry of a private diary which

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‘I will be what I will be - and I am now what I am. Here is where I will devote my energy. My power is with me, not with tomorrow.’ So wrote Hugh Prather, who has just died, in his so-called diary, published as Notes to Myself some 40 years ago. The book, which has now sold over 5 million copies, is said to have inspired many to keep similar diaries.Prather was born in early 1938 in Dallas, Texas

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