Isn’t that just the best headline ever? It kills me that this story didn’t include a photo of the actual notebooks! It is a story that is, literally, as old as the hills, yet its history can be traced in just eight small notebooks. The accounts ledgers of Victorian bookkeepers in the upper Dales, meticulously … Continue reading “Old notebooks that open a window on lost world of Wensleydale cheese”
Such an interesting article from Atlas Obscura. I’d never heard the term “zibaldone” before! ONE DAY IN VENICE, SOMETIME near the end of the 14th century, a busy merchant found himself with a few spare moments. Maybe it was a slow day at the docks, or he arrived home too early for dinner. Whatever the reason, he … Continue reading What’s a Zibaldone?
I go through phases of being extremely disorganized as a blogger. People email me cool tips and sometimes I don’t get to them for a while, and then sometimes I am not sure whether I’ve used them or not. And in the case of this post, someone emailed me all these great photos, which I … Continue reading Notebooks from a Mental Hospital
An excellent article at LitHub by Bradford Morrow, author of the just-published Prague Sonata, among other books. Really interesting look at a writer’s process and why he prefers physical note-taking to digital methods. Big thanks to reader Raymond for sending me the tip! “My memory is good, but capricious at times. My scraps of paper … Continue reading Bradford Morrow’s Boorum & Pease Ledger
An absolutely gorgeous page from a journal belonging to Antonio Lopez, a Puerto Rican fashion illustrator whose work is being celebrated with an exhibition at the Museo del Barrio in New York. I love the mix of elements on this page– the old fashioned ledger with numbers and notes then covered by these elegant drawings… … Continue reading Antonio Lopez’s Journal
Theodore Roosevelt kept field notebooks on his travels, including the ones pictured below from a safari trip. He seems to have had a talent for sketching the animals he saw… and shot! :( See more at: Pages from Theodore Roosevelt’s field notebooks recording animals killed on safari
This is extremely cool: a catalog from 1911, featuring all manner of notebooks and other stationery. The only thing that could be cooler would be if you could find some forgotten warehouse that still had all these products in stock! Flip through the whole catalog at Catalogue of stationery : section no. 1, blank … Continue reading 1911 Catalogue of Stationery
Very cool– on the Tate Museum’s website, you can flip through one of Edward Hopper’s sketchbooks: I love the way you really get a feel for the sketchbook as an object rather than just disembodied drawings. See more at Edward Hopper: Sketchbook Viewer | Tate.
I’ve mentioned and reviewed Field Notes a few times on this site, but I’ve never been a big fan of their notebooks and all the hype around them. It was great to be able to try their notebooks thanks to readers who sent me some samples, but I’d never felt compelled to buy them… until … Continue reading Review & Giveaway: Field Notes Limited Editions
I was walking past the Rubin Museum of Art in NYC’s Chelsea neighborhood, and spotted these beautiful notebooks in the window. I didn’t have a chance to go into the shop to find out more, but I assume they are selling them, not just exhibiting them. The museum is dedicated to art of the Himalayas, … Continue reading Marbled-Edge Ledgers