A History of Diary Writing

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A diary or journal has been used for hundreds of years as a way for an individual to record the events within their daily lives, leaving a unique look at one person’s perception of the world which can be looked back upon in future years. Some diarists subsequently publish their diaries, or have them published by members of their family.

Perhaps the most famous diary in the world is that of Anne Frank, the German-born Jewish girl who hid from the Nazi’s in an attic with her family. At just fifteen when she died, her diary captured the hearts of everyone who read it for its frank and innocent view of such horrific times.

Source: Smithsonian Magazine

I myself kept a diary for a number of years during the first years of high school, recording the minutiae of daily life, as well as all my teenage crushes (there were a lot!). I recently read back over the diaries and was both embarrassed at their content and also impressed that I managed to commit to writing entries almost every day. In subsequent years, I have tried to take up journal writing again but I continually fail.

It made me think . . . was this due to a specific reason? Are our lives now too full of technology and other stimulants to make diary writing feasible? I have decided to take a look back through the centuries at when diaries became popular and how diaries were used to see if there are any reasons why they were more or less popular over different centuries. . .


The Diary’s Origin

The word ‘diary’ comes from the Latin word diarum which meant daily allowance and the earliest examples seem to come from the Middle and East Asian cultures. “The earliest surviving diary of this era which most resembles the modern day was that of Ibn Banna’ in the 11th century. His diary is the earliest known to be arranged in order of date (ta’rikh in Arabic), very much like modern diaries.” [George Makdisi, "The Diary in Islamic Historiography: Some Notes". History and Theory. 1986. pp. 173–85.]

The Rise of the Diary

Diarising was really established in England during the seventeenth century. This timing coincides with the reformation when the bible was translated into English for the first time, which meant that more men and women were learning to read and write so that they could have a more personal relationship with the bible and with God. Alongside this, with the invention of the printing press, paper became more widely produced and available for people to purchase. What with an increase in literacy and access to writing materials, diary writing began to increase in popularity.

One of the most famous diarists of the period Samuel Pepys ‘seems to have begun his diary because he was aware of the crisis affecting the nation at the start of 1660’ [source]. It seems that living within a society where there are significant political events happening is likely to encourage people to keep a journal. 

An excerpt from Pepys's diary concerning Charles II's investigations into the affairs of the Navy Office [source]

Diaries really seem to have hit the height of popularity between the 18th and 20th centuries and authors such as Jane Austen show their characters writing in their diary about their lives. This could be again due to the fact that the physical diary was more readily available in shops and were more affordable. Secondly, this is a period in history which brought great change to England. There was the industrial revolution, the building of the railways, the expansion of the British Empire, steam power and much, much more! Perhaps we can surmise that, like Samuel Pepys in the 17th century, diarists living in the later centuries were compelled to write in a way to record the changing world around them.

Men and Women, how they differ

Whilst men seem to have been keen to keep a diary in order to record major events in their lives, both personally as well as major social events, women’s diaries were much more about their personal lives and the lives of people around them. They were filled with observations about different people and so were more emotionally written, where men were more likely to record in a non-emotive, almost catalogue style.

Many historians have relied upon these diaries in order to find out more about the intimate personalities of those who have lived before us, as without those diaries, historians would have to reply upon newspaper articles and letters. Both of these can be limiting in that newspapers can be biased and articles about specific people are usually only written when something significant has happened to them such as a birth, death, marriage or scandal, and letters, due to their very nature tend not to be very confessional. It is quite rare for someone to spill their deepest secrets to a family member or friend, but they are much more willing to do so in a diary which no one may read. In this respect then, the diary is the closest historians can come to knowing a historical person without having been with them when they were alive.


So when I had looked into this and thought about it a bit more, I realised that there were several reasons why diary writing may be dying out; we are a much more conversation based society now, we know a lot more about the lives of those around us from television and mass media, and also the invention of social media allows us to record our daily lives in an almost technology based diary.

Perhaps all social media users are writing a diary, it’s just the medium that has changed. I guess we will have to wait for historians in the future to decide!