Around 1400 BC, Babylonian astronomers inscribed clay tablets with dated charts containing information on the movements of the moon, stars and sun. These charts are an early precursor to the appointment diary which continues to print information on lunar and solar movements. Such movements linked astronomy to divining the future, and so later printed almanacs came to include horoscopes, astronomical data, religious and agricultural calendars, and medical tips. Almanac meaning ‘calendar’ appears in Latin in the twelfth century. One possible – and charming - etymology is the Arabic ‘al-munak’, or making a camel kneel; this term for a halt may [...]

So last week we were introduced to the GDP diarist James B Williams' first volume of diaries - Cornwall to Bolivia... Vol 2 (1884-6) reports on the three years he spent working in Bolivian mines (entries become shorter as life becomes more routine); and the third reports on the trip home to England. There is a gap of about 10 months between the last entry in volume 2 and the first in volume 3. These diaries include additional material, including financial records, scraps of manuscript poetry, and a passport issued to the diarist in Chile. The diarist was married to [...]

James Bennetts Williams aged 27 (1883) emigrated to Bolivia to work in the silver mines, following the decline of Cornish tin-mining in the second half of the nineteenth century. The first volume gives a detailed, vivid account of the diarist's journey from Cornwall to Bolivia: including, sightings of flying fish and mirages; shooting wild ducks; lashings of drunkenness and death and encounters with native women and spying. Locations: Truro, Birkenhead, Bordeaux, Vigo, Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Punta Arenas, Lota, Talcahuano, Valparaiso, Los Vilos, Tongoy, Coquimbo, Sarco, Huasco, Caldera, Taltal, Paposo, Antofogasta, Cobija, Tocopilla, Barriles, Calama, Huanchaca, Atocha, Tatasi.