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
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
Here’s a gorgeous little antique notebook that I recently added to my collection. At over a century old, it is still in pretty good shape! The cover seems to be some kind of faux leather wrapped around cardboard, with the year stamped in gold. The pages have gilt edges, rather faded now. Another nice little … Continue reading 1912 Diary from France
For years, I’ve wanted to find an example of the original “carnets moleskine” that existed for many decades before the capital-M Moleskine brand was founded. It’s difficult to research online, as the capital-M notebooks dominate the results if you try to search any related terms. I wrote about it in a blog post a few … Continue reading 1898 Agenda Notebook
The notebook image below is from an interested blog post from the V&A Museum in London. It’s an example of a pattern book: “They are reference guides for production. Maybe they show things made by the company in the past, maybe images by competitors, maybe historic objects – all intended to aid in further design. … Continue reading A Pattern Book from the V&A Museum
Most of my notebooks are ones that I’ve bought new and filled with my own notes and sketches. But I also occasionally succumb to my weakness for collecting other people’s used notebooks when I see them at flea markets or on eBay. Here’s a few that I’ve picked up along the way. This Rice-Stix notebook … Continue reading Vintage Notebooks from My Collection
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
The Moleskine mythology of having been the notebook used by Picasso, Hemingway, and Chatwin is, of course, not true, as the Moleskine brand didn’t exist until the late 1990s. But since the Moleskines we know today were modeled after similar notebooks used by these and many other artists and writers in the early 20th century, … Continue reading A Real Picasso Sketchbook
Here’s something pretty cool from the website of the Smithsonian: I had never heard of Earl Shaffer but that notebook accompanied him on quite an adventure: Earl Shaffer was the first person to walk the entire Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine in one continuous hike. Shaffer had no expert advice, no previous footsteps to … Continue reading Earl Shaffer’s Little Black Notebook
A reader named Colin sent me photos of a fascinating notebook from his collection: I thought you might like to see a notebook that dates back to 1938 when my parents rented a flat in Sliema, Malta. The rent was £3.10.0 per month [£3.50 in modern money] and the ink has survived amazingly well over … Continue reading Colin’s 1938 Notebook
