I have a new obsession: commonplace books! source I accidentally stumbled upon them while researching Morning Pages. And I'm in love! What are commonplace books? I'm so happy that you asked! source A commonplace book is a personal compilation of knowledge, ideas, quotations, and observations collected by an individual. It is a notebook or journal where one gathers and organizes information from various sources for future reference and reflection. They are more like a database than a diary. In the past many people used commonplace books as a way to order their ideas and make them easy to refer back...

November 2015 Procedures of Encounter, or, My Commonplace Log Practice Several years ago I was in a small specialty bookstore and came upon a book with mostly blank pages simply called A Little Com…

What is a commonplace book and how do you use one? This post contains the answers to these questions and has some helpful tips.

september in my commonplace - my first month ever commonplacing!

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Hey there! Some links on this page are affiliate links which means that, if you choose to make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I greatly appreciate your support! I want to talk about something a little different today. I know my blog mostly focuses on bullet journals. But there are also other forms of journaling out there. One type of journal I’ve become fascinated with recently is the commonplace book. I’ve come across people talking about commonplace books before, but I’ve always had the impression that a commonplace book was a notebook where you wrote things you wanted to remember. Though this is true, the commonplace book is a little more complicated than that. And what I find most interesting, historically had a specific purpose. So today I want to share exactly what a commonplace book is and how you can use it. Because I’m extra like that, I also want to share the 21st-century version of the commonplace book and chances are you’re already using it. What Is A Commonplace Book Historically the commonplace book was used as a tool to record and digest information. Some commonplace books have been found from before the 16th century. A precursor to the commonplace book was used in Italy as early as the 14th century. Known as a zibaldone, it was a combination of diary, ledger and scrapbook. These volumes were used as a way to record life. Renaissance humanists began using commonplace books as a form of study and note-taking. Historically how smart you were was linked to how much you could remember. We don’t have quite the same views now that everyone has a Google machine in their pocket. But in the past being able to remember lots of “stuff” was important and the commonplace book was used to help with this. In the 16th century, Erasmus of Rotterdam set down a series of rules which would help the user manage the information in the commonplace book. These rules described how literary texts should be organised under specific headings. The act of writing quotes in the commonplace book would aid the owner in recollecting the information gathered through study. Through the commonplace book, the act of reading and writing became linked as the reader used their commonplace book as a way to understand the world. How To Use A Commonplace Book The exact way that you use a commonplace book is very personal, though Erasmus set down specific rules, as you will soon see, those rules could be changed and in fact, the way people have used commonplace books have changed over time. Commonplace books were commonly used in an educational setting. Universities like Oxford and Cambridge would teach their students how to keep commonplace books and was an important part of education. I’m currently working on my dissertation and I can see how a commonplace book could be useful. I wrote an essay for my dissertation module about commonplace books. So I decided to try using one while working on my dissertation and it has been extremely helpful. Part of the dissertation process involves doing lots of research around a topic. I’m finding it extremely helpful to collate this information in a notebook, essentially making it a commonplace book. There are lots of ways to do dissertations, and the way you choose can depend on the type of research project you are working on. After talking to some other graduates I know that the amount of research you do depends on the subject. A science student whose research involves a practical part might not be required to do so much research. But as I’m doing an art course, research is extremely important. And this is where the commonplace book comes in. For my particular module, it was recommended that we treat the research project the same as any other design project. So using a sketchbook as a place to collate research and ideas. This method is very similar to the commonplace book. You could almost argue that the only difference is the type of book that the information is contained in. Why Use A Commonplace Book Though commonplace books are extremely useful in an educational setting. There are several reasons why you might choose to use a commonplace book. One of the main advantages of the commonplace book is that it gives you a singular place to save anything which might inspire you. Originally this was intended to be pieces of writing, quotes and passages, but you could also use it as a place to save images which you like. In this way, the commonplace book could be useful for artists and other creatives. Though Pinterest is extremely popular, the advantage of the commonplace book is that you have everything in one place. This way you can go back and look at previous thoughts and ideas, removing the need for you to remember something which could inspire a new piece of art or writing. There’s a very good reason for using a physical commonplace book rather than a digital alternative. Writing is good for your brain. Writing by hand engages your brain in a way which typing on a keyboard doesn’t. There’s a reason why writing can help with mental health. We know now that teaching children how to write helps with brain development. Physically writing ideas and other bits of information into a notebook helps you process that information. In doing so you can create connections between those pieces of information. For me, this helps when writing a dissertation. But this could also be useful if you’re working on a novel or some other type of research project. The Modern Commonplace Book You might be reading this and thinking that you like the idea of commonplace books, but they seem very complicated. This is the interesting bit, chances are if you have a social media account, you are already using it in a very similar way to how commonplace books were used during the 17th century. Human beings are social people and have always looked for ways to connect with others. Twitter and Facebook are simply the newest forms of social media. From a guy on a horse delivering a letter to telegrams and now the internet, people have always looked for ways to connect. The printing press was invented in the 16th century and this created a cultural revolution. Suddenly it was much easier for people to learn how to write because books were more widely available. Ironically the invention of the printing press made writing by hand much more common. And people wanted to use this skill, keeping a commonplace book was just one of the ways they did this. People began to write down poems and other quotes they wanted to remember in their commonplace book. But this is where things got interesting. People began to share those books, so others could copy those poems into their own commonplace book. This became so popular that writers could have their work shared through commonplace books. If you’re starting to think this sounds familiar, you would be right. Social media sites like Twitter and Tumblr work in the same way. Though social media works similarly to how commonplace books were used historically, they are lacking because they are digital. Commonplace books were created as a way to learn from others, a huge part of this system was based on the idea that you write down words by hand. It has been shown that writing by hand aids memory if you truly want to remember something writing by hand can help. Of course, with social media all you have to do is hit retweet, Erasmus would say that this means you’re not giving those words the attention they deserve. Finally I’ve seen lots of people in the past talk about keeping a commonplace book but had never considered the history behind this simple tool. If anything I think I’m really lucky that I get to research topics like this as part of my dissertation. One of the things I find fascinating about the commonplace book is how similar it feels to the bullet journal. There are also lots of ways in which they are different. But I can see how easy it would be to use the bullet journal system in a commonplace book. It’s also interesting how they share concepts. Using Goodreads to save book quotes isn’t the same thing as writing one down in a commonplace book, the fact you have to physically write the quote down is important. And this is the same with bullet journaling, you assess just how important a task is when you intentionally decide to migrate it to a new day. Do you use a commonplace book? Or do you want to try one? Let me know in the comments.

The Journal Diaries is a blog segment where we get a sneak peek into the journals, notebooks, organizers, and diaries from people all over t...

All my life, I learned from my dad that underlining great passages in a book and otherwise marking and making notes does the book great honor. The more of the book is underlined, the better the book, or possibly the better the reader. However, I do not underline library books and

Enchanting illustrations bring to life “a book that has to be experienced rather than fully understood.”

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I keep a commonplace book because I want to keep track of the best articles and books I read. A commonplace book is like a “thinker’s journal” that serves as a focused act of self-reflection and way…

For some individuals, it’s merely a book of quotes they want to remember and draw upon later.

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3 years of quotes piling up and talking to each other

For centuries, authors and thinkers have kept commonplace books: focused journals that serve to collect thoughts, quotes, moments of introspection, transcribed passages from reading — anything of…