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A diary is a handwritten record, arranged by date, of the happenings of the day. It can be a personal diary, used as an organisational tool, or used as a method of keeping business, government and military records together. In early diaries the dates are written by hand. Once printed diaries were available pages with already printed dates became popular as a simple way of keeping track of entries. Some diarists, however, still prefer to use just a notebook. The year is usually printed on the front cover of modern diaries and again through the individual pages. There is often other useful information printed within the pages of the diary including calendars, standard measurements etc.

A compendium which is similar to a diary is “a collection of concise but detailed information about a particular subject, especially in a book or other publication”
It is believed that the oldest diaries still in existence originated in the Middle Eastern and East Asian cultures. Arabic diaries have been found which were written before the 10th century. A diary from the 11th century is the earliest known to be arranged in date order much like modern diaries. Medieval mystics used a form of diaries to keep daily notes and spiritual thoughts. Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius in a work written in Greek in the second half of the 2nd century AD used many of the features of the modern diary.

At the beginning of the Renaissance period, 14th to the 17th century, people felt the need to write of their personal opinions, thoughts and emotions. These were never intended to be published. The sixteenth century is regarded as the starting point of diary writing but the practice gained popularity in the seventeenth century. Diaries were mainly used by the elite of society but became more commonplace as literacy levels improved and paper costs dropped.

Up until the 18th century most diaries were kept by men and usually just daily notes about their farm or business. Some kept spiritual diaries. Since the 19th century many diaries have been published by their authors. This doubled every year in the 1820’s and continued for approximately thirty years. At that time it became quite popular for the publication of the diaries of important people after their death.

The daily diary or planner as it is sometimes known has been used from this period and by the end of the twentieth century diaries were being used extensively. Over time diaries became far more popular with women than men.

By the beginning of the 1820’s large format diaries were being produced and by the 1850’s these were being sold in their thousands. In 1908 the Smythson company created the first featherweight diary, enabling diaries to be carried about.

Stationery R Us Express has a wide variety of diaries and compendiums of all shapes and sizes currently in stock on this page. Handwritten diaries are an efficient and convenient way to record notes on the happenings of the day whether it be for personal use or in the corporate world. Buy your next diary or compenium online today.