John Buck was an American, most likely a resident of the New York metropolitan area. The collection consists of a diary in four volumes that chronicles the vacation in Great Britain of a young American named John Buck from August 10 to September 25, 1887. The volumes comprise 249 handwritten pages in total, with commercial prints, menus, receipts, and theater playbills attached to the back of selected pages. The script is elaborate, but legible, and the narrative is remarkably descriptive. Humorous sketches illustrate the first volume in particular and the third volume includes three photographs of the author. The diary provides a detailed account of Buck's voyage on the R.M.S. Britannic and his time in London, where he spent the majority of his vacation socializing and attending the theater. Buck also stayed in Edinburgh, Scotland, with Henry Irving, the famous actor and manager of the Lyceum Theatre, and with the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort at Badminton House.
