How the Moleskine Notebook Became an Essential Creative Tool - The New York Times

A new history by Roland Allen uncovers the wealth of ideas and invention hidden in the notebooks of Herman Melville, Agatha Christie, Mark Twain and other luminaries. A new history by Roland Allen uncovers the wealth of ideas and invention hidden in the notebooks of Herman Melville, Agatha Christie, Mark Twain and other luminaries. Credit... Supported by By Wilson Wong Illustrations by Joanna Neborsky A notebook is a record of both solitude and connection. It’s a place for making real the quiet, flickering thoughts that otherwise might pass unnoticed, where words and sketches can stumble and fail. In a notebook, failure is less consequential because it’s not failure at all; it’s a necessary part of the messiness of exploration, of letting the unknown and the uncertain find form. Look no further than the notebooks of the famous authors and artists whose relationships with these indispensable creative tools are chronicled by Roland Allen in THE NOTEBOOK: A History of Thinking on Paper (B

A new history by Roland Allen uncovers the wealth of ideas and invention hidden in the notebooks of Herman Melville, Agatha Christie, Mark Twain and other luminaries. A new history by Roland Allen uncovers the wealth of ideas and invention hidden in the notebooks of Herman Melville, Agatha Christie, Mark Twain and other luminaries. Credit... Supported by By Wilson Wong Illustrations by Joanna Neborsky A notebook is a record of both solitude and connection. It’s a place for making real the quiet, flickering thoughts that otherwise might pass unnoticed, where words and sketches can stumble and f