Hi I came across a post of yours about Dracula and documentation. Which for some reason made me wonder about the final preservation of the documents they were writing in real time up until their ultimate goal was achieved. We here in the epilogue 7 years later that everything they produced is still preserved and will see the light of day again when the Harkers' child grows up enough to read them.
So I wonder if this would have been an easy decision to make... or if there would be a struggle. On one hand they have learned bitterly that they must share everything and keep no secrets from each other. On the other hand, the boy is born after they have achieved the reason they had documented everything. Would there have been a temptation to burn it all and protect innocent eyes? Someone completely ignorant reading such a horrific true story will be completely altered in their worldview and be terrified, would it be in character for them to want to destroy or bury it all?
Oh, this is a good question. It is possible it could vary by the survivors... but in the end I do think they would all want to keep it. Here's my justifications (first individual, then overall):
Van Helsing would want the record for educational/reference purposes, in addition to his stated desire for young Quincey Harker to better understand his mother and those who were devoted to her. In the epilogue everyone acknowledges that these could hardly serve as proof after the originals were destroyed, and Van Helsing himself claims "we ask none to believe us!" Still, I can't help but feel that after all he went through to try and gather knowledge about vampires and how to stop them, there's no way he would want to ever completely destroy or permanently bury such a source of knowledge. I think he wouldn't be able to help wondering whether if there had been an organized, relatively trustworthy-seeming account (as it sounds like by and large he got his information scattered in different stories and legends and folklore/wisdom) for him to consult, perhaps Lucy might have lived. The time he had to spend away from his patient learning what to do in the first place opened up so many opportunities for Dracula to get past them - as he did, almost every time. He may never expect (and certainly doesn't want) such a situation to arise again, but I don't think he in good conscience could get rid of this record, just in case it could eventually benefit someone down the line.
Jack Seward lost all his phonograph cylinders when Dracula burned the original records. Of course, the fact that he kept them totally unorganized suggests that he rarely if ever went back to them anyway, but even so large sections of the text were comprised of him pouring out his heart to his diary. I feel like a part of him would want to hold on to that record in some way, particularly his memories of Lucy during that time. A lot of them were agonizing, but they also grew so much closer while he was caring for her. And if you headcanon him becoming a better doctor or leaving the asylum after the events of the book, then the memories of Renfield (and his treatment of him) would serve as a strong catalyst there too. A negative inspiration not to allow himself to develop such unhealthy dynamics with his patients again, perhaps. I personally find that very nice to think about in fanfic and such but it's admittedly not a growth shown anywhere in the book so that's way more speculative. All that said though, I think he would probably care the least of the lot and would be most likely to defer to others if they wanted to keep or destroy the records.
Arthur Holmwood would be the one I think is most tempted to destroy the records, or hide them forever. Even though he hardly wrote a thing, he bared himself emotionally a lot in these records, and they contain the deaths of 3-4 of his loved ones (depending on how much you think he cared about Mrs. Westenra; we do hear at one point that they got along well but it's possible that was more schmoozing his girlfriend's mom than deep genuine affection), as well as the most traumatizing moment of his life - staking Lucy. I can see him not wanting it gone though because of that moment, though. I tend to imagine that he might feel some amount of guilt/distress about Lucy's final end, at least in the odd nightmare. While he surely remembers the peace on her face afterwards and his conviction that she was saved just as well as the rest, if he ever did have any lingering worries the ability to come back to the record would be a reassurance that she truly was saved at the end.
Jonathan Harker is someone I think would strongly want to preserve the record, and to share it with his son despite knowing the fear it would inflict. Frankly, even just for himself alone, I feel like the memory of his period of brain fever would be pretty terrifying. He lived through so much uncertainty about what was real or not, and his diary and the later corroboration of it is what allowed him to gain his confidence in his past and self and sanity again. He mentions in the epilogue that even on their trip to Transylvania "It was almost impossible to believe that the things which we had seen with our own eyes and heard with our own ears were living truths. Every trace of all that had been was blotted out." He would not want to blot out whatever traces remain. And that's only considering himself - I think he would never want to forget or erase in any way what Mina went through. He would keep it all to honor her alone, without a doubt. And as for Quincey, I think Jonathan's words on his wedding day about believing there should be "no secret, no concealment" between husband and wife would extend to his child too. At least insofar as major life- and perspective-changing events, which this certainly was. Even if there was no reason for it to ever come up again, by not telling Quincey eventually he and Mina would always be hiding such a large part of their past, and I don't think that would sit well with him. (Plus, for Quincey to fully know how incredible his mother is and all she's been through.)
Mina Harker is the one person whose opinion would be respected the most on this matter. I think if she ever wanted the records gone, then regardless of any objections, the others would all bow to her on the matter. But Mina has all along been the number one record-keeper. Almost all the originals are lost, but in a way, not to her. Because she typed this all out herself, much of it in the very thick of events. I wonder if these 'secondhand' records feel more real to her because as she reads them over she can relive typing them up as well. Regardless if that is so or not, I don't think Mina would ever want to hide anything again - especially given how tormented she felt with guilt. She blamed herself for Lucy's death, knew Quincey died for her sake, and knowing her probably felt at least a bit upset with herself for not opening Jonathan's journal sooner even though she was respecting his wishes in both her waiting and when she did read it. The record of Lucy's last months alive (both with her, and after they separated) aren't something she could ever give up. The time when she thought she'd lost Jonathan only to gain him back again - the weeks she was losing herself and was convinced it was only a matter of time until she fully became a monster. The knowledge of what it is to be Dracula. Even those small conversations with Mr. Swales, and the too-late understanding of what happened to him. I don't think Mina would ever want to erase these, because doing so would feel like choosing to forget them, and they owe it for her to remember. And I think she would want to share it pretty strongly too, for much the same reasons as I mentioned above for Jonathan. (Less so 'knowing how badass I am' but more not concealing such a large part of herself from her son.)
In sum:
The epilogue makes it clear, or at least heavily implies, that none of the team have ever gone back to reread the records in those seven intervening years before the final compilation/end note. And indeed, I don't think any of them would really ever want to do so. (In a way, that makes it easier to say there was less struggle, because they didn't really address the issue until years later, and just locked the papers away and healed in other ways. When they came back they were able to look back at them 'without despair' as per epilogue. If they had discussed this sooner it may have been more of a struggle.) But I think they individually would all have decently compelling reasons to want to keep the option open. They all admit that the large lack of original documents is not conducive to people believing. Perhaps it's not very effective even for themselves, especially as more time passes and those memories seem even more distant/unreal compared to their lives now... but still, it's far better than nothing. And just knowing that if they ever feel the need, they can revisit the past is not something I think they would easily give up.
And that's all not even mentioning the one common reason I think they all would definitely share (in addition to just the general hard-won knowledge of the importance of not keeping secrets that you mentioned which is a major theme and not something to be lightly discarded), and that's a memorial. The record has to be kept to honor those lost, as well as the one nearly so. Lucy meant so much to so many, and the horrible loss of her is what finally brought these people together. Mina's endangerment, too, bound them together, and Quincey's sacrifice to ensure their final victory. It was all so meaningful, and so deeply intertwined with this traumatizing past, that there really isn't any way to properly honor them without making this past known. For Quincey Harker to ever understand the meaning of the name(s) he's been given, then he has to read this record someday. He has to know in order to feel the appropriate gratitude and love for those people he can never meet - and they would most certainly want him to do so, he who shares his birthday with Quincey's death and of whom Mina, Jonathan says, has "the secret belief that some of our brave friend's spirit has passed into him."
And let's be honest: the Harkers' opinions matter most on this. At least so far as the epilogue goes, it doesn't seem like anyone else has children or people they feel the need to pass the tale down to. But even if they never do (whether that means never having kids/partners they want to tell it to aka the 'Jack and Arthur are happily married to each other' take or just assuming they don't want to open that can of worms with people who were never involved) that doesn't matter. Because Mina and Jonathan do. Their kid is named after this group of people, and their entire lives were individually and collectively changed irrevocably, and if they want their kid to know then that's it. That's the answer.
And sure, his worldview will be altered to include terrifying monsters... but he will know the reality of the world they live in. He will know who has fought and even died to allow him to do so. And he will know that whatever terrifying monsters are out there... his parents defeated them together. And they will always keep him safe.
