DIARY, the book in which are preserved the daily memo randa regarding events and actions which come under the writer's personal observation, or are related to him by others. The person who keeps this record is called a diarist.
It is not until the close of the Renaissance (but see COMMEN TARII) that we find diaries beginning to have literary value. In the i7th century they began to be largely written in England, although in most cases without any idea of even eventual publi cation. Sir William Dugdale (16o5-86) had certainly no expecta tion that his slight diary would ever see the light. Bulstrode Whitelocke (16o5-75), whose Memorials of the English Affairs covers the ground from 1625-6o, was a genuine diarist. So was the elder George Fox (1624—go), who kept not merely "a great journal," but "the little journal books," and whose work was pub lished in 1694. The famous diary of John Evelyn (1620-1706) professes to be the record of 7o years, and, although large tracts of it are covered in a very perfunctory manner, while in others many of the entries have the air of having been written in long after the event, this is a very interesting and amusing work; it was not published until 1818. It would hold a still higher po sition in the history of literature than it does if it were not over shadowed by what is unquestionably the most illustrious of the diaries of the world, that of Samuel Pepys (1633-17o3) (q.v.). This was begun on Jan. 1, 166o, and was carried on until May 2g, 1669. The extraordinary value of Pepys' diary consists in its fidelity to the portraiture of its author's character. In the age which succeeded that of Pepys, a diary of extraordinary emo tional interest was kept by Swift from 1710 to 1713, and was sent to Ireland in the form of a "Journal to Stella"; it is a sur prising amalgam of ambition, affection, wit, and freakishness. John Byrom (1692-1763), the Manchester poet, kept a journal, which was published in 1854. The diary of the celebrated dis senting divine, Philip Doddridge (I7o2-51), was printed in 1829. Of far greater interest are the admirably composed and vigor ously written journals of John Wesley (17o3-91). But the most celebrated work of this kind produced in the latter half of the i8th century was the diary of Fanny Burney (Madame d'Arblay), published in 1842-46. It will be perceived that, without excep tion, these works were posthumously published. Boswell's Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides (1785), a genuine diary though some what expanded, was published during the author's lifetime.
Many of the diaries described above were first published in the opening years of the gth century, and the interest which they awakened led to their imitation. Diaries ceased to be rare, but as a rule the specimens which have hitherto appeared have not presented much literary interest. Sir Walter Scott's Journal (published in i8go) and the diaristic portions of R. B. Haydon's Autobiography and Journal are eminent exceptions. Exception must also be made in favour of the journals of two minor politi cians, Charles Greville (1794-1865) and Thomas Creevey (1768— '838), whose indiscretions have added much to the gaiety of nations; the papers of the former appeared in 1874-87, those of the latter in go3. The diary of Henry Crabb Robinson (1775— '867), printed in 186g, contains excellent biographical material. Tom Moore's journal, published in 1856 by Lord John Russell, disappointed its readers. Darwin's historic Voyage round the World is written in diary form. Emerson's Journals are the note book of an author rather than a book of intimate confessions. In the 2oth century many men and women have published their diaries during their lifetime. Colonel Repington's Diary of the World War was a monument of indiscretion. "W. N. P. Bar bellion" was still alive when his tragic Diary of a Disappointed Man was published. Of recent diaries none has possessed more literary grace than the Journal of Katherine Mansfield.
It was natural that the form of the diary should appeal to a people so sensitive to social peculiarities as the French. A medi aeval document of immense value is the diary kept by an anony mous cure during the reigns of Charles VI. and Charles VII. This Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris was kept from 1409-31, and was continued by another hand down to 1449. The marquis de Dangeau (1638-1 7 2o) kept a diary from 1684 till the year of his death; this is an inexhaustible storehouse of facts about the reign of Louis XIV. Saint-Simon's own brilliant memoirs, written from 1691 to 1 7 23, may be considered as a sort of diary. The lawyer, Edmond Barbier (I 689-17 7 1 ), wrote a journal of anecdotes from 1718-62. The song-writer, Charles Colle (1709 83), kept a journal historique from 1758-82; it is full of vivacity, but very scandalous. Petit de Bachaumont (1690-17 7o) had access to remarkable sources of information, and his Memoires secrets contains a valuable mass of documents. In recent times the posthumous publication of the diaries of the Russian artist, Marie Bashkirtseff (1860-84), produced a great sensation in 1887. The brothers Jules and Edmond de Goncourt kept a very minute diary of artistic and literary Paris; after the death of Jules, in 18 7o, this was continued by Edmond, who published the three first volumes in 1888.