The Thomas Coates Collection contains one small, pocket-size journal with entries spanning the final two decades the seventeenth century (1682-1699). Coates, an early Quaker settler in Philadelphia, arrived in 1683 and established himself as a tailor and merchant by the 1690s. His journal, maintained in the margins of a British Merlin almanac dated 1683, mostly contains personal accounts and transactions, beginning as early as 1/22/1682. Most of his accounts date from the 1690s—curiously, many of his entries from 1695 are crossed out—and they include purchases of household items such as fabric, flax, butter, and nails (spelled "nayls"). Coates names many contemporaneous Philadelphians in the accounts. His journal also recounts a return to England in late-1683, and subsequent voyage back to America, via an unspecified location in Virginia. Notably, there are several memoranda scattered throughout the entries, including one memorializing the death of his mother (1678) and another commemorating his birthday (1659). Coates furnishes one of the oldest Philadelphia diaries in the collections at the American Philosophical Society, and, as such, this volume provides rare glimpses into the city's early social, economic, and material life.
 

David Rittenhouse maintained meteorological observations in two volumes that span the first twenty years of the early national period (5/6/1784-9/30/1805). Alongside weather conditions, Rittenhouse regularly documents temperatures, the conditions of roads, expenses, and accounts. These volumes may interest researchers studying meteorological conditions as well as other regional phenomena such as eclipses and the Yellow Fever epidemic.

Meteorological observations, 1784-1805
 
David Rittenhouse maintained meteorological observations in two volumes that span the first twenty years of the early national period (5/6/1784-9/30/1805). Alongside weather conditions, Rittenhouse regularly documents temperatures, the conditions of roads, expenses, and accounts. These volumes may interest researchers studying meteorological conditions as well as other regional phenomena such as eclipses and the Yellow Fever epidemic.

The first journal, entitled, "Exchange Book A 1833," includes notes on minerals, individuals, and destinations spanning 6/15/1833-4/7/1843.
 
Jackson maintained two sequential volumes between 1840 and 1841. The 1840 notebook contains entries written between 9/21-10/6, and devotes significant attention to non-geological affairs, such as towns and people, husbandry, farming methods, and yields for oats, potatoes, wheat, and various dairy products. The 1841 volume is considerably more focused on geology, with detailed accounts of granite, smoky quartz, limestone, iron, marble, and lead mines and quarries across New England. While these entries are almost single-mindedly focused on geology, there are instances when Jackson considers other affairs. For example, between 7/4-7/9, he briefly acknowledges the illness, death, and funeral of his daughter, Susan
 
on 7/20, he notes a "late speculation mania
 
" and shortly after an 8/17 entry, he describes a visit to Quebec with some commentary on the Lower Canada Rebellion. This journal features numerous hand-drawn diagrams, many of which are noteworthy for their excellent draftsmanship (8/15 and 9/15).
 
An 1849 journal continues in much the same vein, detailing geological discoveries, carefully rendered diagrams (e.g. 8/4), and barometric readings.
 
Jackson also maintained an account book that spans January 1855-October 1857. That volume features a letter to a "Humphrey Esq.," dated 1/6/186[sic] and a signed entry concerning a dispute regarding certified copies of a document, dated 8/21 (presumably 1857). Interested researchers may choose to review other notebooks in the Geology Journals box, such as a catalog of rocks and minerals from Lake Superior and a scrapbook maintained by Mrs. C.J. Jackson, dated 1881.

Charles Thomas Jackson maintained at least five notebooks that could be classified as diaries, which detail geological expeditions undertaken between 1833-1849. These diaries may interest researchers considering Jackson's geological surveys, New England farming, husbandry, and geology, and the Lower Canada Rebellion.
 
The first journal, entitled, "Exchange Book A 1833," includes notes on minerals, individuals, and destinations spanning 6/15/1833-4/7/1843.
 
Jackson maintained two sequential volumes between 1840 and 1841. The 1840 notebook contains entries written between 9/21-10/6, and devotes significant attention to non-geological affairs, such as towns and people, husbandry, farming methods, and yields for oats, potatoes, wheat, and various dairy products. The 1841 volume is considerably more focused on geology, with detailed accounts of granite, smoky quartz, limestone, iron, marble, and lead mines and quarries across New England. While these entries are almost single-mindedly focused on geology, there are instances when Jackson considers other affairs. For example, between 7/4-7/9, he briefly acknowledges the illness, death, and funeral of his daughter, Susan
 
on 7/20, he notes a "late speculation mania
 
" and shortly after an 8/17 entry, he describes a visit to Quebec with some commentary on the Lower Canada Rebellion. This journal features numerous hand-drawn diagrams, many of which are noteworthy for their excellent draftsmanship (8/15 and 9/15).
 
An 1849 journal continues in much the same vein, detailing geological discoveries, carefully rendered diagrams (e.g. 8/4), and barometric readings.
 
Jackson also maintained an account book that spans January 1855-October 1857. That volume features a letter to a "Humphrey Esq.," dated 1/6/186[sic] and a signed entry concerning a dispute regarding certified copies of a document, dated 8/21 (presumably 1857). Interested researchers may choose to review other notebooks in the Geology Journals box, such as a catalog of rocks and minerals from Lake Superior and a scrapbook maintained by Mrs. C.J. Jackson, dated 1881.

The John Pershouse papers contain two volumes of genealogical data from the late-eighteenth century, two letter books thought to belong to his nephew (Henry Pershouse), and one travel journal. The journal is noteworthy because it furnishes accounts of transatlantic travel in the early national period. While the first entry notes Pershouse's departure from Liverpool to Boston on a 56-day voyage (2/1/1800), regular entries begin around 1826 and continue to late-1838. As a Philadelphia merchant, Pershouse regularly records distances, accounts, and sights in Europe and the United States. Notably, he travels on a ship under the command of a Captain Matlack (presumably Timothy Matlack), travels extensively in the U.S. Southeast and Midwest, and notes the outbreak of the Belgian Revolution in 1830—all excerpted in Selected Quotations. Researchers interested in U.S. domestic and transatlantic travel during the antebellum period ought to find this volume particularly useful.
 

Researchers will likely gravitate to Strahan's first volume, a detailed, six-week account of European travels taken in 1751 (7/6-8/28). Alongside accounts of weather, road and travel conditions, and various social gatherings (e.g. breakfasts, dinners, teas), Strahan's entries offer glimpses into eighteenth-century English conduct, church services, universities, courts, libraries, as well as villages, towns, and cities and their inhabitants. For example, Straham describes Newcastle as a "a place of Business and Industry equal to London" (7/15) and Paisley as a "perfect hive of industrious people" (8/6). Attending a trial, he remarks upon the conduct of the participants, writing, "The court was very solemn and the lawyers were both elegant and behaved with remarkable decency" (7/22). Strahan even visits a poorhouse in Edinburgh, by which, he remarks, "the City is not only freed of all beggars, but the offspring of such are [tirelessly] snatched from Destruction, so that the Race of disorderly people are hereby extinguished" (7/30).
 
The second (1759, 1760, 1766), third (1768, 1773, 1777), and fourth volumes (1755-1761) are much less detailed but sketch his travel (and distances covered). The fourth volume, in particular, more closely resembles an account book than a journal. As he takes stock of his properties, assets, and debts, Straham records his increasingly wealth—from £ 5,000 in total assets in 1755 to £ 12,000 in 1761.

The William Strahan diary encompasses four volumes spanning 1751-1777. The first volume features the most detailed entries, whereas the second and third volumes include shorter accounts of multiple excursions and the fourth volume serves less as a journal than a summation of accounts, debts, and holdings. The first volume's accounts of mid-eighteenth-century England ought to interest researchers interested in English urban space, governance, and social conduct.
 
Researchers will likely gravitate to Strahan's first volume, a detailed, six-week account of European travels taken in 1751 (7/6-8/28). Alongside accounts of weather, road and travel conditions, and various social gatherings (e.g. breakfasts, dinners, teas), Strahan's entries offer glimpses into eighteenth-century English conduct, church services, universities, courts, libraries, as well as villages, towns, and cities and their inhabitants. For example, Straham describes Newcastle as a "a place of Business and Industry equal to London" (7/15) and Paisley as a "perfect hive of industrious people" (8/6). Attending a trial, he remarks upon the conduct of the participants, writing, "The court was very solemn and the lawyers were both elegant and behaved with remarkable decency" (7/22). Strahan even visits a poorhouse in Edinburgh, by which, he remarks, "the City is not only freed of all beggars, but the offspring of such are [tirelessly] snatched from Destruction, so that the Race of disorderly people are hereby extinguished" (7/30).
 
The second (1759, 1760, 1766), third (1768, 1773, 1777), and fourth volumes (1755-1761) are much less detailed but sketch his travel (and distances covered). The fourth volume, in particular, more closely resembles an account book than a journal. As he takes stock of his properties, assets, and debts, Straham records his increasingly wealth—from £ 5,000 in total assets in 1755 to £ 12,000 in 1761.

The first three volumes in the Albert C. Peale Papers are the most idiosyncratic. They include a daybook with weather observations (3/10-5/18/1864), a diary associated with a tour of Washington, D.C. during President Andrew Johnson's administration (c.1865-1869), and a lecture notebook pertaining to studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Of those early volumes, A. C. Peale's diary of his tour of Washington D.C. is perhaps most noteworthy. It recounts his travels from Philadelphia through Wilmington and Baltimore, tours of monuments and government buildings, including the U.S. Patent Office, Government Printing Office, and White House, and a handshake with President Johnson during that tour (2/7/1865).
 
The remaining six diaries (1872-1877) are devoted to various western expeditions in what is today Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. In his first diary (5/15-7/20/1872), A. C. Peale recounts his travel by rail from Philadelphia to Omaha, from which he would conduct his western expeditions. The second volume (5/29-8/15/1873), devotes significant attention to his mineralogical work, including gathering fossils, documenting canyons and volcanic peaks, and ascending various peaks and plateaus. Notably, he references photographer William Henry Jackson, who he writes "disturbed us to take a picture." (8/8/1873). The next two diaries (8/16-10/26/1873 and 5/14/1873-7/18/1874) recount the movement of the party over the next year, most especially campsites, weather problems, and travel constraints. The latter volume also records trip to Savannah (11/20/1873) and includes some accounts in the back of the journal.
 
The final two volumes continue in much the same vein, but offer records of interactions with Bannock and Shosoni Indians. The diary dated 7/19-11/10/1874 documents A. C. Peale's expeditions along branches of the Gunnison River, during which he encounters local tribes on multiple occasions (8/29/1874 and 9/20/1874). The final diary (5/27-10/9/1877), which corresponds with trips into western Wyoming, records numerous interactions with Bannock and Shosoni. For example, A. C. Peale writes that a Shosoni woman shares news of a fight between the whites and the Sioux (6/7/1877), and he commends the English of Bannock outside a ranch near Smith Fork (6/29/1877). Not all interactions are harmonious, however. A. C. Peale also records that Bannock kill two teamsters (8/8/1877) and that one of his his party (Gibbon) loses 300 new guns in a fight (8/23/1877).

Albert C. Peale Papers contain nine volumes that might be classified as diaries. These volumes traverse the American Civil War and Reconstruction period (1864-1877) and provide a window into the exploration and conquest of what is today Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. The great-grandson of Charles Willson Peale, Albert Charles Peale was a prominent geologist in and author of numerous books in geology, mineralogy, and paleobotany. His journals offer a glimpse into his contributions to the Ferdinand Hayden expeditions, which explored and mapped the western United States. In furnishing numerous accounts of local indigenous peoples, including the Bannock and Shosoni, these volumes may interest scholars researching Native America, western exploration, the fields of geology and mineralogy, and the history of science.
 
The first three volumes in the Albert C. Peale Papers are the most idiosyncratic. They include a daybook with weather observations (3/10-5/18/1864), a diary associated with a tour of Washington, D.C. during President Andrew Johnson's administration (c.1865-1869), and a lecture notebook pertaining to studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Of those early volumes, A. C. Peale's diary of his tour of Washington D.C. is perhaps most noteworthy. It recounts his travels from Philadelphia through Wilmington and Baltimore, tours of monuments and government buildings, including the U.S. Patent Office, Government Printing Office, and White House, and a handshake with President Johnson during that tour (2/7/1865).
 
The remaining six diaries (1872-1877) are devoted to various western expeditions in what is today Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah. In his first diary (5/15-7/20/1872), A. C. Peale recounts his travel by rail from Philadelphia to Omaha, from which he would conduct his western expeditions. The second volume (5/29-8/15/1873), devotes significant attention to his mineralogical work, including gathering fossils, documenting canyons and volcanic peaks, and ascending various peaks and plateaus. Notably, he references photographer William Henry Jackson, who he writes "disturbed us to take a picture." (8/8/1873). The next two diaries (8/16-10/26/1873 and 5/14/1873-7/18/1874) recount the movement of the party over the next year, most especially campsites, weather problems, and travel constraints. The latter volume also records trip to Savannah (11/20/1873) and includes some accounts in the back of the journal.
 
The final two volumes continue in much the same vein, but offer records of interactions with Bannock and Shosoni Indians. The diary dated 7/19-11/10/1874 documents A. C. Peale's expeditions along branches of the Gunnison River, during which he encounters local tribes on multiple occasions (8/29/1874 and 9/20/1874). The final diary (5/27-10/9/1877), which corresponds with trips into western Wyoming, records numerous interactions with Bannock and Shosoni. For example, A. C. Peale writes that a Shosoni woman shares news of a fight between the whites and the Sioux (6/7/1877), and he commends the English of Bannock outside a ranch near Smith Fork (6/29/1877). Not all interactions are harmonious, however. A. C. Peale also records that Bannock kill two teamsters (8/8/1877) and that one of his his party (Gibbon) loses 300 new guns in a fight (8/23/1877).

The Eastwick papers include at least 19 diaries, travel journals, and various notebooks maintained by multiple families between 1773-1903. This extended note will offer an overview of their contents in sequential order.
 
The collection contains at least four eighteenth-century journals. The earliest volume, "Aitkens General American Register (with notes)," serves primarily as an account book from 1773. Notably, an April entry includes a note pertaining to Philadelphia evacuations during the American Revolution: "On June 1778, Just one week after the evacuations of the city of Philadelphia by the British Army, Mr. Rittenhouse…Dr. Smith and Mr. Owen Biddle were buried in [making] observations there." Jesse Lukens's "Notes of Surveys" spans much of 1774 (5/10/-9/10/1774), and includes some Indian names and various accounts at the end of the volume. Longitudes and latitudes are interspersed throughout. While dated 1778, "Garden Book by Wister, Daniel and Sarah" features entries spanning 1771-1776. Daniel Wister uses the notebooks as a garden book, recording bulbs and flowers planted, whereas Sally (Sarah) Wister uses it as a travel journal related to a trip to North Wales. "Poor Will's Almanack (with notes) includes entries from 1777-1778 pertaining to weather accounts, and the surveying business of a John Luhms.
 
The next two diaries recount two trips taken by Charles Jones Wister, Sr. in 1812 and 1815. The first "Diary of a trip to Pittsburgh by Wister, Charles," documents his trip to Pittsburgh in the spring of 1812 (5/27-7/19/1812). It notes various stops between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. "Diary of a trip to Niagara Falls" records a trip in the summer of 1815 (7/24-8/25/1815). Notably, Wister discusses contact with both Oneida and Seneca settlements, both of which are excerpted in Selected Quotations (8/9/1815, 8/13/1815).
 
William Wynne Wister's "Weather Account Book" (1818-1821) records the weather, winds, and temperatures of an unspecified location.
 
The next two volumes are more closely resemble field notebooks than diaries. The first, entitled "Bees: June 16, 1824" recounts Charles Jones Wister's (presumably Sr.) purchase of a swarm of bees. Maintained until 8/29/1828, Wister documents breaking open the hive, extracting honey, and installing a plate of glass through which he can watch production, writing, "to my great surprise and joy I found the bees busily employ'd in mending the combs sealing up the broken parts & fastening them to the sides of the tree." He continues purchasing hives (accumulating 10 in total) upon which he conducts various experiments. The next "Diary" (1841) serves as a journal of Wister's work in daguerreotyping. A sample entry reads: "Succeeded in taking the first Daguerreotype picture at 3 P.M. in 12 minutes on the 27th of the 7 Mo. 1840 after two attempts."
 
Charles Jones Wister, Jr. maintained five volumes between 1842-1856. The first diary documents his personal affairs in Duncannon, Pennsylvania, and includes several letters from the fall of 1842. The next journal records personal affairs in and around Germantown in April 1848. The following two volumes were maintained in 1854. The first "Recipes & Directions," dated August 1854, is less a diary than a collection of notes related to handiwork, including tools and recipes for glue and cement. The next volume serves as a travel journal of Virginia and Maryland. While entries begin in October 1854, come continue as late as October 1869. Wister also maintained a diary pertaining to a trip to New York and Niagara Falls taken in the summer of 1856 (7/1-8/23/1856).
 
While not a diary, per se, Charles Jones Wister, Jr.'s "Notes" includes some dated entries spanning 1864-1865. Those entries might be called miscellany, with illustrations of Germantown woods, notes on the sport of cricket, and observations on current affairs. Notably, Wister records at least one piece of news from to the American Civil War: "The news of Gen'l Lee's surrender, the great achievement all felt would be the virtual end of the Rebellion, and to which all hopes have been bent with the upmost [nervousness] since the fall of Richmond, on the Sunday previous, reached Phila. about 9 ½ o'clock this even'g…" (4/9/1865). A second volume from 1865, entitled "Diary of Trip," recounts a trip to Newport, including meteorological observations (10/10/1865-9/1867).
 
"Diary & Farm Notes" is one of the more unusual records in the collection. Co-authored by Charles Jones Wister, Sr. and Jr., this volume spans much of the nineteenth century (1806-1878). Although much of it is devoted to farm chores—slaughtering hogs, blacking boots, filling the ice house, and smoking meat—there is at least one account concerning General La Fayette's visit to Germantown, excerpted in Selected Quotations (7/20/1825). There's also an note on locusts swarms, which appear to have been a recurring problem for the farmhands: "Locusts appeared this warm sultry morning for the first time. Rose bushes are covered with them and ground ruined in many places, probably their first appearance was delayed by the unusual backwardness of the season, there having been but little to remind one of the summer until now. It will be seen by reference to mem. In this book that both in the years 1817 & 1834 they made their appearance on the 23rd of May" (6/6/1868).
 
The last two volumes tax the definition of a diary, but include useful material nevertheless. The first, Charles Jones Wister, Jr.'s "Record of New Year Eves," serves as a kind of commonplace book traversing 50 years of his life (1852-1903). It includes excerpts, poetry, and quotes at the front of the volume, and various newspaper clippings throughout. Finally, Lowry Wister's undated "Medical Recipes" functions as recipe book, with prescriptions for various maladies, preventative and curative, including "sore eyes," "preventing a miscarriage," and "hooping cough."

The Eastwick collection features at least 19 diaries, travel journals, and notebooks maintained by various members of the Wister family between 1773-1903. While the majority of the volumes which were maintained by Charles Wister, Sr. or his son Charles Wister, Jr., the collection also includes contributions from Jesse and John Lukens, Daniel and Sarah Wister, William Wynne Wister, and Lowry Wister. The scope of the collection and multitude of diarists is matched by the diversity of the journals. The Eastwick collection includes personal diaries, travel journals, recipe books, commonplace books, memoranda books, account books, field notebooks, and volumes that defy simple definition. Researchers will discover early accounts of Bristol, Pennsylvania (1783), Pittsburgh (1812), and Niagara Falls (1815), records of gardening, beekeeping, farm work, and daguerreotyping, and accounts of both the evacuation of the Philadelphia in 1778, the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox in 1865, and a visit by General La Fayette to Germantown in 1825. Suffice it to say, these volumes will serve a range of different scholars, including those researching the American Revolution and Civil War, Native America, women's history, the history of photography (daguerreotyping in particular), and nineteenth-century travel, surveyorship, agriculture, husbandry, and beekeeping.
 
The Eastwick papers include at least 19 diaries, travel journals, and various notebooks maintained by multiple families between 1773-1903. This extended note will offer an overview of their contents in sequential order.
 
The collection contains at least four eighteenth-century journals. The earliest volume, "Aitkens General American Register (with notes)," serves primarily as an account book from 1773. Notably, an April entry includes a note pertaining to Philadelphia evacuations during the American Revolution: "On June 1778, Just one week after the evacuations of the city of Philadelphia by the British Army, Mr. Rittenhouse…Dr. Smith and Mr. Owen Biddle were buried in [making] observations there." Jesse Lukens's "Notes of Surveys" spans much of 1774 (5/10/-9/10/1774), and includes some Indian names and various accounts at the end of the volume. Longitudes and latitudes are interspersed throughout. While dated 1778, "Garden Book by Wister, Daniel and Sarah" features entries spanning 1771-1776. Daniel Wister uses the notebooks as a garden book, recording bulbs and flowers planted, whereas Sally (Sarah) Wister uses it as a travel journal related to a trip to North Wales. "Poor Will's Almanack (with notes) includes entries from 1777-1778 pertaining to weather accounts, and the surveying business of a John Luhms.
 
The next two diaries recount two trips taken by Charles Jones Wister, Sr. in 1812 and 1815. The first "Diary of a trip to Pittsburgh by Wister, Charles," documents his trip to Pittsburgh in the spring of 1812 (5/27-7/19/1812). It notes various stops between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. "Diary of a trip to Niagara Falls" records a trip in the summer of 1815 (7/24-8/25/1815). Notably, Wister discusses contact with both Oneida and Seneca settlements, both of which are excerpted in Selected Quotations (8/9/1815, 8/13/1815).
 
William Wynne Wister's "Weather Account Book" (1818-1821) records the weather, winds, and temperatures of an unspecified location.
 
The next two volumes are more closely resemble field notebooks than diaries. The first, entitled "Bees: June 16, 1824" recounts Charles Jones Wister's (presumably Sr.) purchase of a swarm of bees. Maintained until 8/29/1828, Wister documents breaking open the hive, extracting honey, and installing a plate of glass through which he can watch production, writing, "to my great surprise and joy I found the bees busily employ'd in mending the combs sealing up the broken parts & fastening them to the sides of the tree." He continues purchasing hives (accumulating 10 in total) upon which he conducts various experiments. The next "Diary" (1841) serves as a journal of Wister's work in daguerreotyping. A sample entry reads: "Succeeded in taking the first Daguerreotype picture at 3 P.M. in 12 minutes on the 27th of the 7 Mo. 1840 after two attempts."
 
Charles Jones Wister, Jr. maintained five volumes between 1842-1856. The first diary documents his personal affairs in Duncannon, Pennsylvania, and includes several letters from the fall of 1842. The next journal records personal affairs in and around Germantown in April 1848. The following two volumes were maintained in 1854. The first "Recipes & Directions," dated August 1854, is less a diary than a collection of notes related to handiwork, including tools and recipes for glue and cement. The next volume serves as a travel journal of Virginia and Maryland. While entries begin in October 1854, come continue as late as October 1869. Wister also maintained a diary pertaining to a trip to New York and Niagara Falls taken in the summer of 1856 (7/1-8/23/1856).
 
While not a diary, per se, Charles Jones Wister, Jr.'s "Notes" includes some dated entries spanning 1864-1865. Those entries might be called miscellany, with illustrations of Germantown woods, notes on the sport of cricket, and observations on current affairs. Notably, Wister records at least one piece of news from to the American Civil War: "The news of Gen'l Lee's surrender, the great achievement all felt would be the virtual end of the Rebellion, and to which all hopes have been bent with the upmost [nervousness] since the fall of Richmond, on the Sunday previous, reached Phila. about 9 ½ o'clock this even'g…" (4/9/1865). A second volume from 1865, entitled "Diary of Trip," recounts a trip to Newport, including meteorological observations (10/10/1865-9/1867).
 
"Diary & Farm Notes" is one of the more unusual records in the collection. Co-authored by Charles Jones Wister, Sr. and Jr., this volume spans much of the nineteenth century (1806-1878). Although much of it is devoted to farm chores—slaughtering hogs, blacking boots, filling the ice house, and smoking meat—there is at least one account concerning General La Fayette's visit to Germantown, excerpted in Selected Quotations (7/20/1825). There's also an note on locusts swarms, which appear to have been a recurring problem for the farmhands: "Locusts appeared this warm sultry morning for the first time. Rose bushes are covered with them and ground ruined in many places, probably their first appearance was delayed by the unusual backwardness of the season, there having been but little to remind one of the summer until now. It will be seen by reference to mem. In this book that both in the years 1817 & 1834 they made their appearance on the 23rd of May" (6/6/1868).
 
The last two volumes tax the definition of a diary, but include useful material nevertheless. The first, Charles Jones Wister, Jr.'s "Record of New Year Eves," serves as a kind of commonplace book traversing 50 years of his life (1852-1903). It includes excerpts, poetry, and quotes at the front of the volume, and various newspaper clippings throughout. Finally, Lowry Wister's undated "Medical Recipes" functions as recipe book, with prescriptions for various maladies, preventative and curative, including "sore eyes," "preventing a miscarriage," and "hooping cough."