This collection contains 6 diaries kept by Charles G. Cosslett, a student in Dublin, Ireland, between 1794 and 1795, as well as two framed images. Each diary is between 66 and 250 pages in length, and they cover most of the period between January 1, 1794, and December 31, 1795, with occasional gaps as a result of missing volumes.
Cosslett's Diaries contain daily entries about various aspects of his life, such as his studies at Trinity College, Dublin. He had an active social life and traveled throughout Ireland, Scotland, and England. Cosslett maintained precise records of the places he visited, which included both small towns and heavily populated areas, recording his (often negative) opinions of local residents and details about geography, topography, and local customs. In 1795, he spent a significant amount of time on the Isle of Man, after which he proceeded to Cumbria, where he described local lakes, and eventually to London, where he viewed several plays and visited notable locations. Two of the diaries have records about the distance Cosslett traveled, and the second volume contains a printed portrait of George Washington.
The framed Portraits are housed in the Graphics Division:
- A color pastel portrait of Charles G. Cosslett, with a newspaper obituary from The Northern Whig affixed to the back
- An ivory profile of Charles G. Cosslett's father, Judge Charles Mathews Cosslett
Charles Grimké Cosslett was born in the United States around 1773, the son of Charles Mathews Cosslett (d. 1776), who served as a justice of the court of common pleas in Charleston, South Carolina, prior to the Revolution, and his wife, Ann Grimké. Around 1783, the Cosslett family moved to Dublin, Ireland, where Charles G. Cosslett later attended Trinity College, graduating in 1795. During the final two years of his studies, Cosslett traveled throughout the British Isles. He lived in Nutgrove, County Down, for much of his later life and died there on January 23, 1853.
