This essay is an excerpt from the "Introduction" to volume 1 of Donald Jackson and Dorothy Twohig, eds. The Diaries of George Washington, 6 vols. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1976-79). In it the editors discuss the nature of the diaries and their history. They offer an overview of the six-volume documentary edition of the diaries that is available as part of this online collection of the George Washington Papers.

Abbreviations for repositories and references to source documents have been expanded. The "Introduction" as published in full may be found in the online presentation of Volume 1.