Benedict Nicolson's eighteen journals sit at the core of the archive. They cover a forty-five year period, but not comprehensively: there are significant gaps during this time, when - for a variety of reasons - Nicolson did not keep a journal. It is possible that additional volumes were compiled but did not survive.
Aside from a single volume, compiled on a family holiday to Italy in 1925, the journals begin in earnest on 1 January 1933 and run consecutively for just over a seven year period, until 5 May 1940. During this time entries are expansive and mostly written daily, documenting in great detail Nicolson's life from the age of eighteen to twenty-five. Thirteen of the eighteen journals contained in the archive date from this time and together they provide a unique record of what life was like for a young man from a very privileged background, growing up in the 1930s. They document, in particular, Nicolson's time as an undergraduate at Balliol College, Oxford; his social life - including the many parties he attended; his visits to Europe and America; and his attempts to pursue a career in art history.
In May 1940, not long after the outbreak of the Second World War, Nicolson stopped compiling a daily journal, lamenting that it was too difficult to find the privacy to write. In May 1943, after a gap of three years, he began writing again but from this point forward entries are more sporadic. There are three journals from this period, the last ending in April 1950. Together, these volumes provide a unique record of what it was like to be a conscripted man - as opposed to a professional soldier - serving in the Second World War. They cover Nicolson's experiences first in Victor Cazalet's anti-aircraft battery in Kent, and later in the Allied Aerial Photographic Interpretation Unit serving in the Middle East. They also cover the immediate post war period and the resumption of 'normal life' in England. The journals from this period are more reflective and philosophical than earlier volumes including, for example, his thoughts about youth, age, life and love.
It is not known whether Nicolson continued to compile a daily journal after this date: it is possible he did. However, the archive contains only one further journal which appears to be an extract (consisting of loose pages rather than a bound volume). The catalyst for this journal - and its' almost exclusive concern during the early entries - is a new love affair. Later entries in this journal are wider in scope and also include detail about Nicolson's social life as well as his views on universal human experiences: love, ageing, loss etc.
Nicolson came from a family of diary writers and all the journals he wrote are rich in detail. Many of the entries suggest he wrote with a view to being published. He recorded not only information about the day's events, but also his thoughts and observations on a wide range of subjects including, but not limited to, the following:
-people (eg. friends, colleagues, family etc.)
-art & art history (eg. works seen, galleries & collections visited, books published, art historians etc.)
-the arts (eg. books, ballet, music, theatre, film etc.)
-history & politics (eg. current affairs, communism, socialism, Marxism, the Second World War etc.)
-social history (eg. sex and sexuality, women, class, the Bloomsbury Group, Edwardian society etc.)
-life & the human experience (love, loss, ageing, youth, grief, joy etc.)
Journal entries made on 22 and 25 July 1936 record that Nicolson compiled an index for his diaries. However, this index (or indeed any other indices) was not identified when the archive was donated. Access to the journals, therefore, is exclusively through the catalogue descriptions. Given their incredibly rich content it has not been possible to reference in the catalogue, every single piece of information contained within each journal entry. Instead, only substantial references (ie. where the discussion runs to at least a couple of lines) have been listed. The date of the entry has been given so that it is possible to pinpoint these references exactly. Passing references to individuals, places, subjects etc. are not detailed in the catalogue and for this reason it is often necessary to read either side of the substantial entries for a full picture. This is particularly evident with regard to people: as you might expect, Nicolson writes frequently about his friends, family and colleagues and it is recommended that anyone wanting to comprehensively research any particular individual or individuals, should read extensively around the cited entries.
The cast of characters contained in the journals is huge, encompassing both passing acquaintances, as well as deep friendships. With regard to the latter, Nicolson wrote regularly and in depth about certain individuals, providing a unique insight into those who were particularly close to him. Since friendships fluctuated over the years, it is not possible to provide a single definitive list. Instead, the key characters referenced in each journal are noted at the beginning of the relevant catalogue description.
The journals include many references to Nicolson's close family - particularly his mother [Vita Sackville-West]; father [Harold Nicolson] and brother [Nigel Nicolson] - but such entries are usually quite slight. The more substantial entries tend to focus on their work: his father's lectures and career as an MP and his mother's writings. Only occasionally does he write specifically about their characters and the family dynamics.
Nicolson travelled extensively and many journal entries are devoted to recording his impressions of the places and sights he visited. The archive catalogue employs the spellings used by Nicolson for place names and institutions (ie. museums & galleries) most of which are anglicised. There has been no attempt to standardise these names or to update them.
The language used by Nicolson in his diaries necessarily reflects the attitudes of the period in which he was writing. In consequence, some of the terminology used - for example to describe sexuality - may appear outdated. Sometimes it has been necessary to quote from the diaries in the catalogue descriptions: in these instances, the text is enclosed with apostrophes.
Many of the journals include a list of the books Nicolson read during the period on the inside front cover. The entries themselves often include his personal critique of the publications.