The 1860’s introduced Europe and then the world to the composition notebook, whose marble pattern was inspired by early Chinese and Japanese printing techniques. The first pocket notebook we know of was filled with diligent notes kept by Lewis and Clark as they explored and traveled west. Notebooks have been around for nearly 2000 years and while they have been used by artists and writers all over the world since then, it’s the 19 th century that gave birth to the modern notebook that appealed to and was priced for the masses. Seeing that this “problem” has been going on for about four decades at this point, I was thrilled when Galen asked me to write a short article about how notebooks are sized and what they can all be used for.īut first, a tiny bit of history. I don’t want to run out of paper, not in this lifetime (or in the next hundred years!) which given the state of the stacks right now, is insured. I love the hunt of finding new ones I “have to have” and I get immense pleasure from filling lots of pages. How many notebooks does one need? Why can’t I be like the people who buy one notebook, fill it up, and then get a second? Why can’t I be like my partner who keeps everything he writes, be it lists, notes, ink swatches, what have you, in one notebook?īut then I realized that I find great joy in writing in many different sized notebooks.

I used to give myself a hard time about this. Is there such thing as 'too many notebooks?' A few more are in a fancy shoebox and my sisters and friends are often recipients of notebook care packages to share the love or make room for new ones, depending on who you ask. The result is this, there are several stacks of notebooks on my desk, some gracing my bookshelves, and some in a storage container under my bed. Let’s start this article with an admission: I have a notebook problem.

B5 paper size