I came across a very interesting blog called Northing and Easting, which is described as “A blog about mapping, surveying, geospatial technology and the history of the topographic sciences.” Of particular interest was a post about the use of field notebooks: In the olden days (like, up until the 1980s) field notebooks were a staple … Continue reading On Using Field Notebooks
I have a big to-do list for this blog. Here’s some of the notebooks and things I’ve got waiting in the wings for future coverage, some of which I’ve been meaning to get to for ages: Miquelrius Boarding notebook 0.00 Night and Young Guns Moleskine books Piccadilly Softcover Notebook Assorted Japanese notebooks from Kinokuniya Bookstore … Continue reading Things to Come
I don’t think I would understand the contents of these notebooks, but I’d love to see them nonetheless. I couldn’t be writing this blog without them! The founding documents of Silicon Valley — the tech equivalent of the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution — were stacked on a table in … Continue reading Silicon Valley Notebooks
The readers of this blog continue to challenge my notebook wisdom, proving again that I’m more of an enthusiast than an expert. But maybe others will have suggestions, so I share these with all of you: From Bobby: I’m trying to find a notebook that is “normal” sized ~8.5×11 and is cream/light green colored like … Continue reading Questions from Readers
Here’s another neat little item purchased on EBay: This is a sub-category of notebooks that I could happily collect: small promotional diaries given out to the employees or business partners of various corporations. I have ones in my collection from Sandoz, GE, and the Harvard Coop, and this Westinghouse one was a great addition. First … Continue reading EBay Find: Westinghouse Diary, 1945
A couple months ago I posted about the artist David Fullarton and wondered where I could get a notebook like the one he used for his work. Well, it turns out I had only to look in my own collection! The unusual gridded pages appearing in Fullarton’s artwork come from an engineer’s field book like … Continue reading Engineer’s Field Notebook, late 1980s
An interesting story I stumbled across: Retired colonel sees a rich future in hardbound print: The Book Factory produces custom books, lab notebooks, log books, journals. DAYTON — Don’t tell Andrew Gilmore that print and high-tech can’t be married. As president of the Book Factory, Gilmore presided over the wedding ceremony. Gilmore, 54, is a … Continue reading A Retired Colonel Makes Great Notebooks
Here’s another wonderful notebook from the past. It belonged to James Haden (1790 – 1871), a member of a family engineering firm in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England. James was “the partner in the firm who travelled the country erecting, supervising and taking orders for the installation of warm air heating & ventilating stoves and expanding the … Continue reading An Engineer’s Notebook, c.1830