From an auction house in Nottingham, I buy a series of 18 diaries running across the early to mid-20th century, kept by a man called Samuel who lived in a village near Chesterfield, Derbyshire.
This is charming. I love how fresh the pages look. The difference in Samuel's handwriting over the period of 37 years. The inclusion of the cutting about his wedding and the fact that W is still there in the final entry. The simple details and the fact that they end on a simple note.
Oh, how wonderful! This is the core stuff of social historians - I'm reminded of people like Juliet Gardiner and David Kynaston: how the vast trends and processes of history play out at the level of the local amateur dramatics group.
My mum has recorded a daily dairy record since the 1980s. Weather, comings and goings, arcana of the everyday. I wonder what somebody would make of her life were they to purchase the set at an auction?
The printed remarks (‘Dividends payable’) are also interesting.
I like the mixture of the global like and extreme local in the clipping. There are description of the dresses as you might find today on a tabloid describing the latest garbs of a celebrity, juxtaposed with the identification of a person with ‘of Wood Street.’
It is as if we can replace the bathroom tap with the concept of 'time.' We take time to pieces, making it easier to handle or ‘turn.’
The final entry also offers a beautiful self-reflexive ode to time; it correlates with the way we live it.
Love this -- thank you.
This is charming. I love how fresh the pages look. The difference in Samuel's handwriting over the period of 37 years. The inclusion of the cutting about his wedding and the fact that W is still there in the final entry. The simple details and the fact that they end on a simple note.
thank you roz!
Oh, how wonderful! This is the core stuff of social historians - I'm reminded of people like Juliet Gardiner and David Kynaston: how the vast trends and processes of history play out at the level of the local amateur dramatics group.
Thanks emma!
"Touching time" -yes!
My mum has recorded a daily dairy record since the 1980s. Weather, comings and goings, arcana of the everyday. I wonder what somebody would make of her life were they to purchase the set at an auction?
I'm pleased to know that your mum does this!
Oh! My mum’s from Chesterfield (and all of that side of my family), I can hear these diaries. Lovely.
I can give you the precise street address if you'd like, Sarah!
No, I’ll leave Samuel some privacy. (Is the village Pilsley, though?)
It's not. He was an hour or so's walk north from there.
Beautiful. I love this idea of 'touching time' that you share.
Any idea to what "Bolsover" refers? I grew up on a street called Bolsover in Houston, Texas. Lovely post...
It’s also a town in Derbyshire.
Wondered this myself. What a life! And what a wonderful bit of perspective.
The printed remarks (‘Dividends payable’) are also interesting.
I like the mixture of the global like and extreme local in the clipping. There are description of the dresses as you might find today on a tabloid describing the latest garbs of a celebrity, juxtaposed with the identification of a person with ‘of Wood Street.’
Thank you.