How & Why to Start Your Commonplace Book! The Art of Collecting Knowledge.
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The Art of Collecting Knowledge! One of the most effective ways I’ve used to study and to do close readings when I read a book, Is to use a notebook or journal as a Commonplace Book. In this video, I will tell you everything you need to know about a Commonplace Book: What it is, How to select one for yourself. How to use it And a bit about the history of this effective study tool.
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Resources: John Locke: https://archive.org/details/13925922180LockeCommonplaceBook/page/n1/mode/2up
Harvard's Commonplace Book Scans: https://curiosity.lib.harvard.edu/reading/catalog?f%255Bsubjects_ssim%255D%255B%255D=Commonplace+books&q=common+place+books&search_field=all_fields
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Commonplace books are a time-tested tool for capturing and retaining intellectual curiosity through selective transcription of quotes, passages, and ideas, which requires deliberate choices about physical format and systematic organization to maximize their value for vocabulary building, writing improvement, and long-term memory.
- Commonplace books function as repositories of intellectual conversation rather than personal diary, allowing regular writing practice without self-revelation
- Physical format choices (size, paper quality, binding, lines vs. blank) directly affect usability and likelihood of sustained engagement
- Active use through close reading, annotation, indexing, and vocabulary extraction transforms passive transcription into a learning tool that enhances retention and writing
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A commonplace book is fundamentally a repository for your intellectual curiosity and represents your intellectual conversation with the world, encompassing inspirational quotes from books, films, music, and other sources.
“it really is a repository for your intellectual curiosity it is your intellectual conversation with the world if you find a song and you absolutely adore the lyrics you write it down into your commonplace book if you find a quote that motivates you even from a film from a book or whatever it is you write that down as well”
The history of commonplace books goes back at least to ancient Greece, where the term was invented for lawyers presenting cases in courts and assemblies, and similar practices (like the Locust communis) existed in ancient Rome as places to write pieces of wisdom.
“the history of a commonplace book actually goes back at least to ancient Greece where the term was invented for lawyers that were presenting their case in front of Courts and the assemblies in ancient Rome where they had the Locust communist which was a place where people would write different pieces of wisdom”
Arthur Conan Doyle used a commonplace book to write down all the different facts of criminal cases so that he could then incorporate them into his Sherlock Holmes stories.
“Arthur Conan Doyle he used to use a commonplace book to write down all the different facts of criminal cases so that he could then incorporate them into his Sherlock Holmes stories”
Doing very close readings while reading a book and writing notes about interesting things, descriptions, and well-executed passages in your commonplace book helps with retention and provides material for later use in writing and other projects.
“one of the things that I do with my commonplace book which I think is very very valuable and it certainly helps me in my writing and even in making these videos and that is I do very close readings where I read and then I have my book handy so I can take notes on what I'm reading and write down some descriptions or words or just things that were done really really well that I can use later because you need to get inspiration from wherever you find it and one of the most obvious places is all the various books that you read as you go through the years so I think it's very very helpful to pick up the phrases that you find mind in a really interesting book”
A commonplace book is a repository for writing down quotes, information, and things encountered during study that you want to retain, functioning as a personal library rather than a place for original thought.
“it's a place for you to write down different quotes and Things Different information that you've come across in your study almost like a notebook so that then you can refer to it later on it's not so much a place for original thought it's more like a repository or library of various things that you've seen and encountered that you want to retain”
Having page numbers (whether pre-printed or hand-written) in your commonplace book is very helpful for creating a table of contents or glossary and for organizing and indexing the book for later retrieval.
“when I see some of the beautiful work of people online it truly is inspirational so whether or not your commonplace book is as aesthetic as can be one of the things that does help is that some of these like this one from Odyssey has page numbers and the page numbers are super helpful for making your table of contents or your glossery other ones like Adams and astronauts have dates at the top so that makes it also very handy or you can certainly write your page numbers as you go because one of the yearnings in a commonplace book I think is for it to be well organized and for you to be able to index and find the various things that you've written in it over the weeks and the years”
The writings of Marcus Aurelius are very similar to a commonplace book with additional personal thoughts, where basic Stoic ideas were copied from other sources.
“I think that it's not too far to say that the writings of Marcus Aurelius are very very similar to a commonplace book with a bit more of his personal thoughts added but the basic stoic ideas were copied from other sources”
Paper quality and whether paper bleeds or holds up to fountain pens is an important consideration when choosing a commonplace book, especially for fountain pen users.
“another consideration and especially if you're a fountain pen user is the paper quality and whether or not it's going to bleed through and if it can hold up to fountain pens so I do like Odyssey paper which is very very fountain pen friendly the paper that they use which is uh 68 g tamoa River paper which is a lot of fun to write on”
Creating a table of contents at the front of the commonplace book allows for easy cross-indexing and organization as you progress through the book.
“I think one thing that is really helpful to remember to do which I often forget to do is to select a little space in the front of the book for a table of contents that way you can cross index a as you go along or even after you go along I often for whatever reason just forget to do that so I end up doing it at the back which works just as well but still there's just some more Elegance to having the table of contents in the front”
Using a commonplace book helps retain mental acuity, especially as you get older, by keeping you engaged with what you're reading and experiencing, helping to codify intellectual pursuits within a structured journal system.
“I believe using a commonplace book really helps for you to retain your mental acuity especially as you get older it helps to keep you engage with what you're reading what you see hear smell taste and everything else as you go through life it's just a tremendous way to open up the door in all of your intellectual Pursuits and to codify it and put it within a structure within this journal this commonplace book where you can go back and revisit all the different things you've learned and things that have inspired you over the weeks and the years”
Using a commonplace book to write down unknown words, drawing a box around them, and collecting them in a glossary at the back helps expand vocabulary and provides tools for self-expression.
“another great tip for your commonplace book is is to use it to help to add to your vocabulary I think we're all striving to speak English better to have a pretty broad range of expression and it's super helpful to write down a word that you don't know the meaning of and then to draw a box around it so that you can find it easily and then another tip is that you can then collect all these and put them in the back as a glossery so you can then reinforce these various words that you pick up in your readings”
Size is an important consideration when choosing a commonplace book; larger books like the Odyssey cannot be carried in a pocket for travel, while smaller books like the Leuchtturm mini field journal can be easily stowed in a back pocket and withstand significant abuse.
“so something like this as nice as it is and I love this Odyssey this is definitely one of my recommendations but it's not something you can shove in your pocket for instance if you were to travel around whereas a that I have been using is my little lock b mini field Journal because the size is just perfect and what I do here is I've been using this as a commonplace book and I often recopy it over to my regular Journal but this is brilliant for shoving in your back pocket and just not worrying about it at all this can really take a beating”
Commonplace books provide an opportunity to use fountain pens and write regularly without sharing personal information or self-revelatory content, allowing writers to keep personal details private while still engaging in daily writing practice.
“it's an opportunity for you to use your fountain pens or to write but you're not really sharing personal information in them you're copying things you're writing down things that you want to learn but if someone should come across it they're not necessarily learning any biographical information about you”
Things you choose to write down and retain in a commonplace book, while not explicitly biographical, reveal valuable information about yourself in a curated and hidden way that avoids the jarring dissonance of confronting raw personal facts.
“you'll find that those things you choose to hold on to and to learn do say something very valuable about yourself but in a very sort of hidden curated way so it's a very powerful tool and it's almost a bit of a code as you approach it”
A commonplace book keeps focus on inspiration and what makes your life more romantic and magical, making it a powerful tool for cultivating a life centered on inspiration rather than mundane concerns.
“it keeps the focus on inspiration on what inspires you what makes your life more romantic and more magical and I think that is a tremendous power in a commonplace book”
When choosing a commonplace book, it is important to select one that is not too thick, as a very thick book (like a 500-page volume) can feel intimidating and indomitable, potentially leading to filling it with fluff rather than genuinely inspiring content.
“I think the first suggestion I would make and I think this is very important is to select a book that's not too thick so you take something like like this book it is almost 500 pages it's a little intimidating if you choose something this thick to start to carry around and fill up it can feel sort of an indomitable task and it might make you want to just put fluff in there or anything that you run across it's not truly inspiring you”
Slimmer volumes for commonplace books give a greater sense of accomplishment as you advance through them, making them more psychologically rewarding than thicker volumes.
“I personally prefer Slimmer volumes because it gives you a sense of accomplishment as you advance through that”
Hard-cover commonplace books are preferable to soft-cover books because they better withstand the repeated abuse of being carried around, thrown into bags, and transported on travels and adventures.
“I would also probably pick something with a hard cover I love this aush book and I actually have used parts of this as a commonplace book but I do find that soft covers can really take a beating and the one thing about a commonplace book is this is your friend this is your companion you're going to have conversations with it you're going to carry it wherever you go far and wide overseas everywhere so if you're going to do that and throw it into a bag it really needs to be a Hardy book that's going to stand up to all sorts of abuse”
There are advantages and disadvantages to both lined and blank pages in a commonplace book: lines keep writing uniform and disciplined, while blank pages allow freedom for writing, diagrams, and sketches.
“there really are advantages to each so lines of course keep your writing very uniform and very disciplined because you only have these lines to work with whereas a blank book can also be used for writing diagrams for doing sketches of various things that you see and that really does free you up and free up your mind and your imagination as well so you need to sort of weigh these two things whether or not lined or blank pages are right for you”
John Locke, the political philosopher, famously wrote a guide to how to make a commonplace book.
“John lock the political philosopher famously wrote a guide to how to make a commonplace book and I will link to it in the description of this video so you can take a look at that for yourself”
Commonplace books were very popular in the United States in the 19th century, when people would transcribe newspaper articles, poems, and parts of plays that inspired them as a form of remote memory device in an era without computers.
“commonplace books were very popular especially in the United States in the 19 century people would transcribe different newspaper articles poems parts of plays whatever it was that truly inspired them went into their commonplace books and I think it was a little bit of sort of a remote memory device if you will in those days you didn't have a computer or anything else so you would write it down into this notebook”
Commonplace books were used in the Renaissance by students of ancient Rome and Latin who transcribed writers like Cicero or Catullus, engaging in conversation with these ancient sources while translating them.
“this idea came from Rome and it was carried forward and you saw it in the Renaissance as well where students of ancient Rome and Latin would transcribe writers like cisero or catellis and have a conversation with these ancient sources while they translated them”
Famous historical users of commonplace books include Thomas Jefferson, John Keats, and H.P. Lovecraft, demonstrating that the practice has been used as a tool for centuries to make one's life more rich, fulfilling, and successful.
“some other famous users of commonplace books include Thomas Jefferson wh aen HP Lovecraft and more so this has been a tool going back for centuries that you can use in your own life to make your life more Rich more fulfilling and more successful”
John Milton used binge reading and engagement with books as a way to process the psychological impact of his divorce and feelings of abandonment.
“John Milton who famously had this terrible divorce from his wife and one of the ways that he processed the abandonment and and the feelings he was going through was going through a list of binge reading so that is a bit of inspiration for all of us to dive into some books if we're going through hard times”
If you plan to use watercolor sketches or other artistic elements in your commonplace book, you need paper that is even more hearty and capable of handling moisture than standard fountain-pen-friendly paper.
“another consideration if you're doing things like water color sketches as you go along is that paper needs to be even more hearty this one is from mol skin it's a very hearty watercolor Sketchbook this would make an interesting format for a commonplace book you could certainly use it either way but you would have a lot of real estate if you want to do a watercolor sketch”
Using different color inks for different sections of a commonplace book (e.g., one color for vocabulary words, another for quotes from books) creates a beautiful, aesthetically organized book that helps with rapid visual recognition and reference.
“another really helpful tip that a lot of people use in their commonplace books although if I'm being perfectly honest I can't be bothered with this one even though I love the effects if you want want your book to be more aesthetic you can certainly use different color inks for different sections if it's a vocabulary word you could use one color of ink if it's something you found from a book you could use another you could sort of color code the entire thing and you have all these different colors and they have meanings and it's absolutely beautiful”
Original commonplace books from the 19th century are available and can be found on eBay, providing an incredible way to observe people's historical handwriting and understand how the practice was conducted.
“so many of these are available and out there you can pick them up on eBay and they're an incredible way of seeing people's handwriting over the years in the pages of those books so they're utterly fascinating”
Using washi tape, stickers, stamps, and other decorative elements in a commonplace book keeps you motivated and engaged as you progress through the book and helps you make it a beautiful personal tool.
“you can use washi tape stickers stamps whatever it is that keep you motivated and engaged with your book as you progress through it that makes for an absolutely beautiful book I personally don't have that kind of artistry mine is much more like a straightup notebook but nevertheless when I see some of the beautiful work of people online it truly is inspirational”
Allocating approximately 10% of the overall pages (roughly 3-5 pages) for a table of contents ensures sufficient space for comprehensive indexing without excessive waste.
“so I would select maybe three four five pages I would say roughly maybe you know 10% of the overall Pages for your table of contents so that way you can find things easily”
Adams and Astronauts, Odyssey, and Leuchtturm mini field journal are solid notebook recommendations for commonplace books based on quality, durability, and usability.
“out of the note books that I have in front of me right now my solid recommendations are for Adams and astronauts Odyssey which I love and the lock Mini Field Journal which is just so convenient”
There are branded commonplace books available from various companies that viewers can pursue as another option when choosing their commonplace book.
“there's also a bunch of companies out there that actually make branded commonplace books I don't have any of those but if that's a direction you want to go in you could pursue that as well”