diary [Lat.,=day], a daily record of events and observations. As distinguished from memoir (an account of events placed in perspective by the author long after they have occurred), the diary derives its impact from its immediacy, requiring each generation of readers to supply its own perspective. The earliest diaries extant are the Roman commentarii—household account books, senators' speech notebooks, and Caesar's account of the Gallic Wars. Diaries are of particular interest to historians because they depict everyday life in a particular place and time, often illuminating important historical events. Examples of such diaries are the Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris, written by an anonymous French clerk from 1401 to 1431; accounts of daily life in the American colonies by William Bradford Bradford, William, 1590–1657, governor of Plymouth Colony, b. Austerfield, Yorkshire, England. As a young man he joined the separatist congregation at Scrooby and in 1609 emigrated with others to Holland, where, at Leiden, he acquired a wide acquaintance with
..... Click the link for more information. , John Winthrop Winthrop, John, 1588–1649, governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony, b. Edwardstone, near Groton, Suffolk, England. Of a landowning family, he studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, came into a family fortune, and became a government administrator with strong
..... Click the link for more information. , William Byrd Byrd, William, 1674–1744, American colonial writer, planter, and government official; son of William Byrd (1652–1704). After being educated in England, he became active in the politics of colonial America.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Samuel Sewall Sewall, Samuel (sy
`əl), 1652–1730, American colonial jurist, b.
..... Click the link for more information. ; Anne Frank Frank, Anne, 1929–45, German diarist, b. Frankfurt as Anneliese Marie Frank. In order to escape Nazi persecution, her family emigrated (1933) to Amsterdam, where her father Otto became a business owner.
..... Click the link for more information. 's diary (1947, tr. 1953), an account of the early days of World War II by a young German-Jewish girl who died in a concentration camp; and Harold Nicolson Nicolson, Sir Harold, 1886–1968, English biographer, historian, and diplomat, b. Tehran, Iran. Educated at Oxford, he entered the foreign office in 1909, and, until his resignation 20 years later, he represented the British government in various parts of the
..... Click the link for more information. 's diaries (1964–68), which treat the world situation from 1929 to 1962. A particularly unusual diary is that of the painter Eugène Delacroix Delacroix, Eugène (Ferdinand-Victor-Eugène Delacroix)
..... Click the link for more information. (covering 1822–24 and 1847–63), which contains many extraordinary drawings. Among the many diaries of literary and psychological interest, the greatest is probably that of Samuel Pepys Pepys, Samuel (pēps), 1633–1703, English public official, and celebrated diarist, b. London, grad.
..... Click the link for more information. . While presenting a detailed portrait of life in 17th-century England, the diary also renders many charming and humorous incidents, the product of Pepys's observant eye and delightful style. It records, for example, the New Year festivities of 1666: "Then to dancing and supper and mighty merry till Mr. Belt came in, whose pain of the tooth-ake made him no company, and spoilt ours." Other important literary diarists are John Evelyn, Jonathan Swift, Dorothy Wordsworth, Jules and Edmund Goncourt, Charles Baudelaire, André Gide, Franz Kafka, Virginia Woolf, and Anaïs Nin, whose 126-volume diary represents her efforts to "unmask the deeper self," so that it might be studied by psychiatrists.
..... Click the link for more information. , John Winthrop Winthrop, John, 1588–1649, governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony, b. Edwardstone, near Groton, Suffolk, England. Of a landowning family, he studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, came into a family fortune, and became a government administrator with strong
..... Click the link for more information. , William Byrd Byrd, William, 1674–1744, American colonial writer, planter, and government official; son of William Byrd (1652–1704). After being educated in England, he became active in the politics of colonial America.
..... Click the link for more information. , and Samuel Sewall Sewall, Samuel (sy
`əl), 1652–1730, American colonial jurist, b...... Click the link for more information. ; Anne Frank Frank, Anne, 1929–45, German diarist, b. Frankfurt as Anneliese Marie Frank. In order to escape Nazi persecution, her family emigrated (1933) to Amsterdam, where her father Otto became a business owner.
..... Click the link for more information. 's diary (1947, tr. 1953), an account of the early days of World War II by a young German-Jewish girl who died in a concentration camp; and Harold Nicolson Nicolson, Sir Harold, 1886–1968, English biographer, historian, and diplomat, b. Tehran, Iran. Educated at Oxford, he entered the foreign office in 1909, and, until his resignation 20 years later, he represented the British government in various parts of the
..... Click the link for more information. 's diaries (1964–68), which treat the world situation from 1929 to 1962. A particularly unusual diary is that of the painter Eugène Delacroix Delacroix, Eugène (Ferdinand-Victor-Eugène Delacroix)
..... Click the link for more information. (covering 1822–24 and 1847–63), which contains many extraordinary drawings. Among the many diaries of literary and psychological interest, the greatest is probably that of Samuel Pepys Pepys, Samuel (pēps), 1633–1703, English public official, and celebrated diarist, b. London, grad.
..... Click the link for more information. . While presenting a detailed portrait of life in 17th-century England, the diary also renders many charming and humorous incidents, the product of Pepys's observant eye and delightful style. It records, for example, the New Year festivities of 1666: "Then to dancing and supper and mighty merry till Mr. Belt came in, whose pain of the tooth-ake made him no company, and spoilt ours." Other important literary diarists are John Evelyn, Jonathan Swift, Dorothy Wordsworth, Jules and Edmund Goncourt, Charles Baudelaire, André Gide, Franz Kafka, Virginia Woolf, and Anaïs Nin, whose 126-volume diary represents her efforts to "unmask the deeper self," so that it might be studied by psychiatrists.
diary
or journalRecord of events, transactions, or observations kept daily or at frequent intervals; especially a daily record of personal activities, reflections, or feelings. Written primarily for the writer's use alone, the personal diary usually offers a frankness not found in writing done for publication. The diary form, which began to flower in the late Renaissance, is important as a record of social and political history. The most famous diary in English is that of Samuel Pepys. Other notable journals include those of John Evelyn, Jonathan Swift, Fanny Burney, James Boswell, André Gide, and Virginia Woolf.
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