List of longest diaries

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
AuthorWord CountDurationPeriodNotes
Robert Shields37.5 million25 years19721997Exact word count not available until 2049[1]
Claude Fredericks30 million80 years19322013Word count is estimated; the manuscript runs to 65,000 pages[2]
Edward Robb Ellis22 million71 years19271998
Tony Benn20 million[3]69 years19402009
Arthur Crew Inman17 million44 years19191963
Nella Last12 million[4]28 years19391967Participant in Mass Observation program
John Gadd4 million[5]45 years19752020Started in 1947[6] but kept consistently from 1975[7]
Ernest Achey LoftusUnknown91 years18961987Guinness World Record for longest kept diary[8]
William Lyon Mackenzie KingUnknown57 years18931950Word count not stated; the manuscript exceeds 50,000 pages[9]

References

  1. Martin, Douglas (29 October 2007). "Robert Shields, Wordy Diarist, Dies at 89". New York Times. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  2. Anastas, Benjamin. "The Most Ambitious Diary in History". The New Yorker. No. 1 November 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  3. Wilby, Peter. "Tony Benn: Peter Wilby reads the diaries". The Guardian. No. 22 March 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  4. 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). doi:10.4000/miranda.1238. ISSN 2108-6559.
  5. Eckersall, Faith (3 November 2013). "150 volumes and 33,000 pictures: meet John Gadd, the man who's written Britain's biggest personal diary". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  6. Evans, Mike. "Meet Mr. Gadd, 83, of Fontwell Magna in Dorset". Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  7. de Bruxelles, Simon (10 August 2013). "Diaries record a life in mind numbing detail". The Times. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  8. "Longest kept diary". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  9. "Diaries of William Lyon Mackenzie King". Library and Archives Canada. Library and Archives Canada. February 28, 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
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