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Thread: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

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    Default Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    If this is not the proper forum to post this in, I apologize in advance and will post to this topic in the correct subforum in the future if someone will give me some direction. I did search up and down the subforum list, but couldn't find a fit. Perhaps someone will create a place to discuss the fascinating hobby of collecting the writings of other people.

    I have been collecting letters, journals, (especially travel journals), diaries, missives, and other personal papers for about 20 years now. Some of the most interesting are a series of WW II love letters between a young man and his fiance (they were later married and the correspondence continued until the war's end) to a series of journals from a young woman in college documenting just about everything you can imagine including her mental struggles with what we call "bipolar disorder" today.

    Please let me know if there is a place to start a discussion on this subject if we have one and if not perhaps one could be created.

    Below is a bit of my history and reasoning as to why I see this pursuit as worthwhile.



    I remember as a boy of about 12 exploring an old house that was being demolished in our neighborhood and finding an old journal in the attic dust written in pencil. I believe the dates were in the 1920s and 30s and I recall being astonished at how well preserved the author's thoughts were even though they were in pencil on yellowed paper. I also remember the author.* Even today 5 decades later. I didn't know the author personally, but I knew of their lives. And even many years later I remember them.

    I was in London some 20 years ago and picked up a small personal pocket journal at an antiques street market. As I later read through the journal I realized that the young lady who penned it did so many times while hiding in the Tube during the Blitz of London in WWII. She would give her account of being terrified while hearing and feeling the rumbling of the bombs dropping overhead only to later on the same night write of going to the movies with her boyfriend if their neighborhood was beyond the borders of devastation. I think that was common in those days. To be bombed one hour and to be at the movies the next hour. I remember as I read through the small journal occasionally seeing white grit and dust fall out of it as I turned the pages and thought it had been stored horribly over the years. Only to realize later that the grit and powder falling out of the journal was what was caught in the pages from the ceiling of the Tube as this young lady wrote upon those pages the terrors of the bombings she was experiencing. I still have that journal and I still remember that young lady and the parts of her life she shared.

    If you want your life remembered, you should not leave it to the memories of others. But should take the time to invest your life onto the pages of a journal that someone, somewhere, will certainly pick up at some time and will remember you even though they never met you.

    I don't suppose there are many of us that have lived more than a few decades that do not look back over our shoulders and stand aghast at the ever-quickening movement of time. This is why I believe it imperative; if you want your life to be remembered you should write it down for others to read.
    Last edited by Bisquitlips; April 21st, 2022 at 12:58 AM.

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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    An interesting topic. I wonder if it might dwell a bit better in the Creative Writing sub-forum?
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    An interesting topic. I wonder if it might dwell a bit better in the Creative Writing sub-forum?
    Yes. I actually thought about that form but then I read through it and it didn’t seem to be a particularly good fit. But thanks for the input. :-) Anyone else have some suggestions I am completely open and if this doesn’t seem to be an interesting topic to others then I am more than happy to keep it to myself.

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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    I don't think it will kill anyone if the post stays here. I don't know how "pen-centric" it is, any more or less than being about writing one's thoughts (hence my suggestion). I don't have a clue how much discussion it might raise; in my case, I don't know that I would go out and actively seek the writings and letters of strangers. However, I pretty religiously keep all the correspondence I get from friends, and additionally I have a few books of the collected letters of notable people, and find their writing to others of interest.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    I agree with Jon that the Creative Writing sub-forum may have been a better place for this thread because it's about things that are written on paper and not specifically about particular pen brands that don't have their own specific sub-forum. However there are plenty of threads that don't go into what might be considered their correct forums and as we don't have anyone who can sort them out and put them where they should be it's not something anyone worries about.

    I believe that The Library could be either completely deleted or changed into a reasonable forum that could actually be used for something but know that's never likely to happen so it just sits there as an unused block that no-one can post in on the Forum page.
    Last edited by Chrissy; June 14th, 2022 at 11:50 PM.
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

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    Lloyd (April 18th, 2022)

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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bisquitlips View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Jon Szanto View Post
    An interesting topic. I wonder if it might dwell a bit better in the Creative Writing sub-forum?
    Yes. I actually thought about that form but then I read through it and it didn’t seem to be a particularly good fit. But thanks for the input. :-) Anyone else have some suggestions I am completely open and if this doesn’t seem to be an interesting topic to others then I am more than happy to keep it to myself.
    It interests me for one. I love history since I see it not as a list of time and places of events but quite literally the intimate experiences of the people -- our greatest family, the family of humanity -- who lived these events.

    I also am quite happy with it being here. I don't see any reason to move it.

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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    Wonderful and generous post, BisquitLips. As an aside, it's SO rare here to see a post with an apology in it. Thank you for showing us what courtesy is. ❤

    Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
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    A: Look, if I argue with you, I must take up a contrary position.
    M: Yes, but that's not just saying 'No it isn't.'
    A: Yes it is!
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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    When travelling through central Pennsylvania, on a Sunday morning visit the vendor who sells old handwritten manuscripts inside Renningers antiques market near Adamstown.

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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    Quote Originally Posted by FredRydr View Post
    When travelling through central Pennsylvania, on a Sunday morning visit the vendor who sells old handwritten manuscripts inside Renningers antiques market near Adamstown.
    Thank you for the great tip Fred. My wife and I are newly retired and looking to take a road trip to Pennsylvania and up to NYC. I will definitely search it out.

    Good website too!

    https://renningers.net/
    Last edited by Bisquitlips; April 21st, 2022 at 01:03 AM.

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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    Quote Originally Posted by Lloyd View Post
    Wonderful and generous post, BisquitLips. As an aside, it's SO rare here to see a post with an apology in it. Thank you for showing us what courtesy is. ❤

    Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    I will be glad to move this to Creative Writing if someone can point me to the instructions for doing so.

    Thanks so much!

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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bisquitlips View Post
    I will be glad to move this to Creative Writing if someone can point me to the instructions for doing so.

    Thanks so much!
    You can't, but it doesn't matter. You could argue it goes in the lounge or a couple of other places. This forum isn't busy enough for it to really matter.

    Anyway, I have mixed thoughts on the idea. On one hand, it's wonderful to have (pick your famous person) notebooks and diaries preserved for posterity. I can see the utility of "average Joe's" diary for historical purposes and context. However, I suspect many people would be mortified to think of their personal lives and thoughts - recorded on paper -being examined by strangers of a future time.
    "A truth does not mind being questioned. A lie does not like being challenged."

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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    I'm with dneal on this, in toto. The post is here, it's creating a life of it's own, and it might as well just live here now. Only time for a move would have been just after the OP and it's not a big deal. Besides, end-users can't move threads and our admin is MIA.

    I'm also in sync with not wanting *anything* I put down on paper in a journal to be shared, now or in the future. Those are notes to myself and I don't consider myself literary or wise. I'm glad for collected correspondences and writings, but those have been from people who consented to such. BTW, I've very much enjoyed the collected correspondences between playwright/actor Sam Sheperd and friend Johnny Dark; the collection is titled "Two Prospectors".
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bisquitlips View Post
    If this is not the proper forum to post this in, I apologize in advance and will post to this topic in the correct subforum in the future if someone will give me some direction. I did search up and down the subforum list, but couldn't find a fit. Perhaps someone will create a place to discuss the fascinating hobby of collecting the writings of other people.

    I have been collecting letters, journals, (especially travel journals), diaries, missives, and other personal papers for about 20 years now. Some of the most interesting are a series of WW II love letters between a young man and his fiance (they were later married and the correspondence continued until the war's end) to a series of journals from a young woman in college documenting just about everything you can imagine including her mental struggles with what we call "bipolar disorder" today.

    Please let me know if there is a place to start a discussion on this subject if we have one and if not perhaps one could be created.

    Below is a bit of my history and reasoning as to why I see this pursuit as worthwhile.



    I remember as a boy of about 12 exploring an old house that was being demolished in our neighborhood and finding an old journal in the attic dust written in pencil. I believe the dates were in the 1920s and 30s and I recall being astonished at how well preserved the author's thoughts were even though they were in pencil on yellowed paper. I also remember the author.* Even today 5 decades later. I didn't know the author personally, but I knew of their lives. And even many years later I remember them.

    I was in London some 20 years ago and picked up a small personal pocket journal at an antiques street market. As I later read through the journal I realized that the young lady who penned it did so many times while hiding in the Tube during the Blitz of London in WWII. She would give her account of being terrified while hearing and feeling the rumbling of the bombs dropping overhead only to later on the same night write of going to the movies with her boyfriend if their neighborhood was beyond the borders of devastation. I think that was common in those days. To be bombed one hour and to be at the movies the next hour. I remember as I read through the small journal occasionally seeing white grit and dust fall out of it as I turned the pages and thought it had been stored horribly over the years. Only to realize later that the grit and powder falling out of the journal was what was caught in the pages from the ceiling of the Tube as this young lady wrote upon those pages the terrors of the bombings she was experiencing. I still have that journal and I still remember that young lady and the parts of her life she shared.

    If you want your life remembered, you should not leave it to the memories of others. But should take the time to invest your life onto the pages of a journal that someone, somewhere, will certainly pick up at some time and will remember you even though they never met you.

    I don't suppose there are many of us that have lived more than a few decades that do not look back over our shoulders and stand aghast at the ever-quickening movement of time. This is why I believe it imperative; if you want your life to be remembered you should write it down for others to read.
    @Bisquitlips
    Very interesting thought on old letters and wriing.

    I'm too into collect vintage letters, envelopes ( some personnel writing materials on Velum writings etc, ) I have never found any older journals so-far. All I am after is the older wring styles but when I find some thing that is hand written and have a history in that it makes me so passionate about how we are as humans and our close connection to our writing.
    I like to take the opportunity here, to add a quite interesting video about letter writing/ journaling here.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tzq23Ux4Ds
    Part two___ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTC_z4kRwbs

    And also a Fun video again of the Victorian guide line of letter writing too here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsKHF1ci1wA

    It is good thing to do journaling and getting your hands dirty of ink stains by writing.. yes one day someone will remember you for that notes you are leaving.
    Last edited by Cyril; April 22nd, 2022 at 07:40 AM.

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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    A practical question: handwritten materials (journals, letters) that illuminate our shared history, significant events, daily life in the past, etc. might be better placed in a public archive, rather than in a private collection. Unless the collector provides for the disposition of such documents, they might eventually be lost or destroyed.

    I'm collecting my manuscripts, journals, letters, and professional papers for a university archive, so this has been on my mind. The source material (notebooks, manuscripts, original art, correspondence) for published works has been catalogued, along with the letters. Next up are unpublished manuscripts and photos.

    One study project, an oral history of public resistance to a nuclear project, Project Wagon Wheel, has provided material for a documentary film. The guy who made the film found my project in the archive. We'd not met previously. But it was nice being invited to the first showing.
    Last edited by Chip; April 22nd, 2022 at 10:07 PM.

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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    A book excerpt touching on handwritten letters and manuscripts:

    https://lithub.com/anna-quindlen-on-...iting-by-hand/

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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    Quote Originally Posted by Cyril View Post

    I'm too into collect vintage letters, envelopes ( some personnel writing materials on Velum writings etc, ) I have never found any older journals so-far. All I am after is the older wring styles but when I find some thing that is hand written and have a history in that it makes me so passionate about how we are as humans and our close connection to our writing.
    I like to take the opportunity here, to add a quite interesting video about letter writing/ journaling here.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tzq23Ux4Ds
    Part two___ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTC_z4kRwbs

    And also a Fun video again of the Victorian guide line of letter writing too here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsKHF1ci1wA

    It is good thing to do journaling and getting your hands dirty of ink stains by writing.. yes one day someone will remember you for that notes you are leaving.
    Thank you for this! The vid is very worthwhile!

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    Senior Member Bisquitlips's Avatar
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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    Quote Originally Posted by Chip View Post
    A practical question: handwritten materials (journals, letters) that illuminate our shared history, significant events, daily life in the past, etc. might be better placed in a public archive, rather than in a private collection. Unless the collector provides for the disposition of such documents, they might eventually be lost or destroyed.

    I'm collecting my manuscripts, journals, letters, and professional papers for a university archive, so this has been on my mind. The source material (notebooks, manuscripts, original art, correspondence) for published works has been catalogued, along with the letters. Next up are unpublished manuscripts and photos.

    One study project, an oral history of public resistance to a nuclear project, Project Wagon Wheel, has provided material for a documentary film. The guy who made the film found my project in the archive. We'd not met previously. But it was nice being invited to the first showing.
    It sounds like you have project well in hand.

    You gave me food for thought on why I probably need to catalog my journal and writing collections.

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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    I mentioned this topic to my wife, and she pointed out that my mother and aunt compiled -among other things - some WWII love letters between my grandparents. Small remembrance boxes of their lives. In a familial sense, they're sweet (although my grandmother would be mortified).

    It turns out that WWII love letters are a thing. There's a museum exhibit for them, and they're even sold on eBay and Etsy. One BBC piece is about two men and "forbidden love".

    I'm still not sure what to think about all that. My grandmother would be even more mortified to think of her letters in a museum for anyone to see. One of the individuals in the BBC article specifically asked his recipient to destroy the letters (understandable, given society at the time). The flip side of that is today's society can have a more intimate connection with history, and see that the human condition with all its hopes, dreams and fears, remains relatively constant despite societal and technological changes.
    "A truth does not mind being questioned. A lie does not like being challenged."

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    Default Re: Collecting Handwritten Journals, Letters, and Diaries.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bisquitlips View Post
    You gave me food for thought on why I probably need to catalog my journal and writing collections.
    You'll surely have a good idea of what's of personal or sentimental value and what might merit archival preservation. Most universities and major libraries maintain document archives, and can provide details on what they value for collection. I need to finish indexing my unpublished manuscripts before fire season, and deposit them. We've had to evacuate twice, and I'd hate to have all my stuff go up in smoke.

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