List of longest diaries explained
This is a list of diaries notable for their exceptional length, primarily by word count but also duration.
Table of diaries sortable by word count and duration| Author | Word Count | Duration | Period | Notes |
|---|
| 37.5 million | 25 years | 19721997 | Exact word count not available until 2049[1] |
| 30 million | 80 years | 19322013 | Word count is estimated; the manuscript runs to 65,000 pages[2] |
| 22 million | 71 years | 19271998 | |
| 20 million[3] | 69 years | 19402009 | |
| 17 million | 44 years | 19191963 | |
| 12 million[4] | 28 years | 19391967 | Participant in Mass Observation program |
| Ellsworth James | 5.9 million | 63 years | 1944–2007 | Word count does not include first year (1944) which was handwritten. 1946-2007 manually typed.[5] |
| 4 million[5] | 45 years | 19752020 | Started in 1947[6] but kept consistently from 1975[7] |
| Unknown | 91 years | 18961987 | Guinness World Record for longest kept diary[8] |
| Unknown | 57 years | 18931950 | Word count not stated; the manuscript exceeds 50,000 pages[9] | |
Notes and References
- News: Martin . Douglas . Robert Shields, Wordy Diarist, Dies at 89 . 8 September 2022 . New York Times. 29 October 2007.
- Anastas . Benjamin . The Most Ambitious Diary in History . 8 September 2022 . The New Yorker . 1 November 2021.
- News: Wilby . Peter . Tony Benn: Peter Wilby reads the diaries . 2 June 2023 . The Guardian . 22 March 2014.
- 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 .
- News: Filbert . Jim . 27 March 2024 . Oh, my word! . live . Pike County Express . 6.
- Web site: Evans . Mike . Meet Mr. Gadd, 83, of Fontwell Magna in Dorset . 23 December 2014 . 8 September 2022.
- News: de Bruxelles . Simon . Diaries record a life in mind numbing detail . 8 September 2022 . The Times . 10 August 2013.
- Web site: Longest kept diary . Guinness World Records . 8 September 2022.
- 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 .
