This edition is transcribed from the Journal of John Waldie, Young Research Library UCLA Special Collections, Collection 169. Ninety three volumes of manuscript journals and letters were purchased in 1957, by Lawrence Clark Powell, from Robert D. Steedman, of Newcastle-on-Tyne. The collection contains 7 volumes of letters addressed to John Waldie, 73 volumes of the journal (25 of the numbered volumes are missing), 11 volumes on travels transcribed from the journal (t before the volume number = transcribed travel volume), one volume of passports (1827-1837), and one volume which includes a narrative account of Waldie’s experiences at Antwerp and Brussels during the Battle of Waterloo and his subsequent tour through Flanders, Holland, and France. Composed of fully accessible, searchable, downloadable pdf files, the present edition is a transcript in 1500 typed pages. The selections are primarily Waldie’s commentaries on performances, but also include episodes of his travels and personal encounters.

Introduction: biographical and historical
Text: approximately 1000 theatre entries from the journal.
Errata: many errors occurred in transcribing and typing; Waldie largely ignores accents and diacritical marks in foreign words.
Addenda: portraits, the Waldie estate, theatres, selected manuscript excerpts, title-pages to the works published by his sisters, Charlotte Waldie Eaton and Jane Waldie Watts.
Index: a complete list of plays discussed with cross-references to John Genest, Some account of the English Stage: from the Restoration in 1660 to 1830 , 10 vols. (Bath: H.E. Carrington, 1832).

In January 1799, a seventeen-year-old student at the University of Edinburgh, in eager anticipation of events to come, put his pen to the first blank page of his notebook and began with a flourish, "The Adventures of John Waldie." Not until 1864 did John Waldie, ill and near death, set aside his journal without further adding to the long collection of daily entries. Much in the 65-years of his journal falls short of the adventurous excitement hoped for in 1799, but John Waldie traveled extensively and recorded faithfully what he observed in the great theaters, museums, and concert halls of Europe. An accomplished tenor, Waldie performed at private entrtainments with Angelica Catalani, Michael Kelly, and John Braham. He met with Gioachino Rossini and other leading composers, and was often in the company of John Philip Kemble, Sarah Siddons, and the prominent actors and actresses. As one of the proprietors, Waldie served on the committee of the Theatre Royal, Newcastle. Many of his commentaries concern the theatres in Newcastle, Edinburgh, and Bath, but he also spends entire seasons in London for the performances at Covent Garden and Drury Lane.

This publication was made possible by the Bernadine Zelenka Endowment to support the publications of the UCLA Library Department of Special Collections.