I have not been to Dubois, but it will definitely be on my list for the next time I visit Paris. It is an art supply store that has been in business since 1861 and from what I can see on their website, they have some really cool stuff. (Check out the Cabinet de curiosités section of their website for some totally non-notebook related goodies.)

As for notebooks… they carry quite a few brands of sketchbooks, including one I hadn’t heard of: Dalbe.

Dalbe turns out to be yet another French company selling art supplies, including some of their own brand. They also have stores in Paris. Oddly enough, I couldn’t find these particular sketchbooks on the Dalbe website, but did see something interesting from Hahnemuhle!

“Report and Art Book”– not so sure about the size or the cover overhang, but love that red stitching!

But it’s the description of the first set of sketchbooks at Dubois that intrigued me: “à la française?” “à l’italienne?” Qu’est-ce que c’est? I’d never seen notebooks described this way before, but it turns out that it is French for “portrait” and “landscape.” I am curious as to the origin of these terms– is there some traditional thing where French artists preferred the vertical portrait format and Italian ones preferred the horizontal landscape format? In looking at art history, I’d think both countries have had plenty of artists working in each format… Please chime in with a comment if you can shed any light on this!