The Diary of a Nobody is an English comic novel written by the brothers George and Weedon Grossmith, with illustrations by the latter. It originated as an intermittent serial in Punch magazine in 1888–89 and first appeared in book form, with extended text and added illustrations, in 1892. The Diary records the daily events in the lives of a London clerk, Charles Pooter, his wife Carrie, his son William Lupin, and numerous friends and acquaintances over a period of 15 months.
Cover of the first book edition
George (right) and Weedon Grossmith
The first instalment in Punch (1888)
Evelyn Waugh praised The Diary of a Nobody as "the funniest book in the world"
George Grossmith was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades. As a writer and composer, he created 18 comic operas, nearly 100 musical sketches, some 600 songs and piano pieces, three books and both serious and comic pieces for newspapers and magazines.
Grossmith, as illustrated in The Idler magazine, 1893
Grossmith's father
1878 programme for Cups and Saucers and H.M.S. Pinafore