I came across the photo below a couple of months ago, as part of an article about the coronavirus lockdowns and how they are causing people to do more writing by hand on paper. But what got me all excited was that it appeared to show a Smythson notebook with unlined pages. The photo caption said it was a Soho notebook in a color called turmeric. From the proportions vs. the hand holding it, I’d say the notebook is around my favorite 3.5 x 5.5″ size. I’ve always been quite fond of Smythson notebooks with their lovely blue paper and soft leather covers, but they are very expensive, and the paper is almost always lined, so I haven’t bought one other than an address book that I used in the mid-1990s. But I could get an unlined notebook like what appears to be shown below, I’d buy it!
Alas, I think it was all a terrible tease. Smythson does make a Soho notebook with blank pages (the paper looks white in photos, but the description says it is pale blue) but only in 5.5 x 7.5″ . And it’s $245!! They also make the Portobello notebook with pale blue unlined paper (it also looks white), which is 8.5 x 10″ and is $295. They also make a Portobello sketchbook: 8 x 10″ with white paper, $325. The 3.5 x 5.5″ Panama notebooks all have lined pale blue paper (only $75!). The slightly larger lined Chelsea notebook is 4.4 x 6.6″ and is $125.
I think the whole photo caption is just a mistake as the greenish color that seems to be shown below looks nothing like the bright yellow-orange of the actual “turmeric” Soho notebook. Which is actually on sale right now for only $112! But at least for now, I still won’t be buying any more Smythson notebooks, which is just as well for my budget!
From the article:
There’s an upside to lockdown. If our home habits are discernible from consumption, we’re turning into altogether nicer people. We’re writing more by hand and we’re writing more letters.
This is the finding of the upmarket stationers, Smythson, which does terrifically covetable writing paper, correspondence cards and notebooks. It’s seen an increase of over 80 per cent in stationery sales in April. The range of plain stationery is up by more than 200 per cent. Record books – for journals – are up by over 70 per cent; notebook orders have doubled and telephone and address books sales have increased by 355 per cent.
Read more: The heartening boom in handwriting | Spectator Life