Description

John Aubrey, the 17th-century antiquary, archaeologist, folklorist, natural philosopher, writer and gossip, is also regarded by many as the inventor of the modern biography. The LRB Diary for 2026 is our tribute to Brief Lives, his pioneering biographical work, in Aubrey’s quatercentenary year. Its premise is that the London Review of Books and Aubrey share a belief that a single, often salacious anecdote can describe a life better than any exhaustive series of facts. Aubrey’s Brief Lives began as an index of 55 notable contemporaries. Alongside a weekly planner for 2026 and the usual useful features, we’ve therefore selected 55 excerpts from the thousands of biographical pieces contained in the LRB archive. You’ll find some of Aubrey’s acquaintances and subjects, various recurring preoccupations of the LRB, and a few curveballs, in the manner of Brief Lives – all captured with a single, slightly reckless flourish, by writers including Alan Bennett, Penelope Fitzgerald, Christopher Hitchens, John Lanchester, Celia Paul, Jacqueline Rose, Sukhdev Sandhu, Paul Theroux and Colm Tóibìn.The diary also features artwork by Alexander Gorlizki, including a fold-out centre spread that has to be seen to be believed.