The collection

Letters and diaries, old and new

By Jack Latimer

The Letter in the Attic collection will span the centuries. The oldest set of letters we've so far received dates from the 1830s.  Our most recent item is a diary which was written from 2004-2008.

An online exhibition

We'll be publishing the Letter in the Attic catalogue in full on this website in a few months time.  In the meantime, you can keep track of the items we're collecting through our online exhibition on the My Brighton and Hove website.

Love and war and daily life

Some of the items in the collection are war letters, mainly from the Second World War, but some from the First World War.  Many itmes cover everyday life in Brighton: we've got diaries which focus on trips to the cinema, relationships and the weather. We're also collecting travel journals and accounts of life overseas written by Brighton residents as well.

Our main focus is on letters and diaries, but we're also interested in memoirs and other personal papers - such as military discharge papers, schools reports and household bills.

Scanning and cataloguing

Many of the people who are sharing their letters and diaries with the project want to keep the originals.  We're scanning and cataloguing these items, and we're also giving the owners advice on how to look after them.