Dagbog. Side 66 1843

This is page 66 of Johan Thomas Lundbye’s diary, made in the 1840s with paper, binding, and ink. The book itself is a common enough object, but its materiality speaks volumes. Paper was a relatively cheap, mass-produced surface for writing at the time. The diary format speaks to both privacy and potential readership; while intensely personal, Lundbye surely knew that others might someday read his words. The handwriting itself is revealing – neat and legible in some places, more rushed in others. The simple act of keeping a diary was a way to register one’s existence. We can see this impulse towards documentation in the lists of names. Lundbye was part of a social circle, a group of people who defined themselves through collective identity. All these elements – the paper, the handwriting, the names – amount to a social record, a document of Lundbye’s life and times, carefully inscribed in ink.