The diaries cover most of John Chisholm’s life from his student days on, with gaps in 1880, 1891-1894, 1898-1899, and 1909-1912. The entries are chiefly daily (but very intermittent in 1895-1897, and less so occasionally at other times). They detail chiefly the external events in the life of a student, a young advocate and aspiring politician, and a fairly successful lawyer. Apart from his studies in Leipzig in 1878 and a trip to Spain in 1882, his life was largely spent at work in Edinburgh and on holiday in Perthshire and elsewhere in Scotland. The earlier diaries are chiefly in commercially produced books, the later ones in blank notebooks.