Be prepared to work hard for years, sign lots of non-disclosure agreements, and secure a key to a secret bank vault if you want to join the select few get to see this notebook, which contains… an ancient alchemical recipe? A spell for a witch’s brew? Instructions for making an elixir of eternal youth? No, … Continue reading This Notebook Contains a Secret Formula
Another recent NY Times spotting: Tom Verlaine Was a Mystery. His Archives Reveal More of His Story. I spy an Eastern Tablet Paper King composition book (small Paper King spiral notebooks were my favorites when I was a kid), and a small Pen-Tab spiral notebook (with yellow and black tape covering most of the spiral), … Continue reading Tom Verlaine’s Notebooks
Louise Carmen notebooks were featured in the New York Times recently. The article is dated Jan. 16, 2026, so I expected to see it in the print edition’s Sunday Styles section, but as of this writing, it seems to have appeared online only: A New Coveted French Accessory The article talks about the brand’s social … Continue reading Louise Carmen Notebooks in the NY Times
Orhan Pamuk’s Memories of Distant Mountains was published last year. I bought a copy right away but it’s taken me a while to review it! I wrote about Pamuk once before, quoting a passage from one of his books where he talks about his grandmother keeping notebooks that she wrote in every day. He must … Continue reading Orhan Pamuk’s Notebooks
I sometimes shudder at the idea of old notebooks being altered in any way, but I came across a book that captures what I think is an interesting and beautiful use of old books and journals. Photographer Francesca Woodman bought various old books, notebooks and exercise books at flea markets in Italy in the 1970s. … Continue reading Francesca Woodman’s Artist’s Books
Several years ago I posted about some of Turner’s sketchbooks that were available in book form: J. M. W. Turner Sketchbooks. I recently went to another exhibition of Turner’s work, this time at the Yale Center for British Art. In the exhibition, there was an actual sketchbook displayed in a plexiglass case, opened to a … Continue reading J. M. W. Turner Facsimile Sketchbooks
There’s a fabulous retrospective of the artist Ruth Asawa on view now at MoMA in NYC, through February 7, 2026. Asawa is best known for her hanging sculptures made of woven wire (the header photo of this post is the shadow of one of them), but this exhibition really opened my eyes to the breadth … Continue reading Ruth Asawa’s Sketchbooks
I recently read the book The Catcher Was a Spy, a fascinating account of the life of Morris “Moe” Berg. Berg was a catcher for several major league baseball teams from the late 1920s to the early 1940s. While his record as a player wasn’t that great, he was one of the most quirky and … Continue reading Moe Berg’s Notebooks
What are the rules around selling and collecting old notebooks that belonged to other people? I’ve recently been wondering about this after seeing certain items for sale on various sites, including a diary with very intimate thoughts and full names included. Nothing was blurred out in the listing, so I was able to google the … Continue reading Vintage Journal Ethics
Today we’ll take a look at another item from my collection of vintage notebooks, a Master-Craft loose leaf binder. At first glance, it looks quite similar to some of the other pocket size loose leaf notebooks I own but there are a couple of interesting differences. This Master-Craft notebook was quite well-used. The exterior is … Continue reading Vintage Master-Craft Loose Leaf Notebook
