This partial diary, covering the period 3 April to 10 July 1859, was kept in _The People's Pocket Diary for 1858_ ...(New York, 1857?). "I have lost my diary in which I have an account of every day in the year so far," Bachelder wrote in the April 3rd entry. The majority of the diary is an accounting of his business in which he took, developed ("... I used the dungeon of the jail for a dark room ..." [29 April]), and sold stereoscope views. He did so by canvassing (either himself or by hiring someone) several Massachusetts towns, obtaining subscribers (usually from military companies), then delivered the views when they had arrived from the lithography firm of Endicott & Co. of New York. He sometimes used the firm of Hosea Barnes & Co. of Boston for framing the prints. He was occasionally accompanied by his wife during his travels. Bachelder took some stereoscope views: two in Washington St. (Salem, Mass.) [7 April]; the monument at Concord, Mass., as well as two of the hotel, one of [blank], and three of the courthouse [29 April]; and another view of the monument at Concord, as well as the "Old Manse" where Hawthorne once resided [30 April]. He inspected other possible views (e.g., Newton, Waltham, Woburn, Worcester). Also, he used them to trade for items (e.g., vane spindle, arabesque, card case, jointed fishing rod, medicines) or for payment to others (especially those who worked for him). Some of the entries include comments regarding the weather and the places he had stayed. He records the people he had met with, as well as his non-business activities, and letters he had written and received. The final page of the diary contains a list of the "Contents of trunks and Boxes stored at Mr. Mattoons House 64 Washington Avenue Chelsea," which includes items related to Gettysburg and Abraham Lincoln, and relics from the Chicago fire.
