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Friday, June 7, 2013

Paperblanks Darwin Tree of Life mini journal

Last in this week's series on my Paperblanks journal collection is my newest: the Darwin Tree of Life mini journal!

This is from the Paperblanks Embellished Manuscripts collection, which I only just discovered recently and immediately became obsessed with. The Embellished Manuscripts collection features great artists, writers, scientists and thinkers. I find these journals extremely inspiring!

Darwin is one of my science heroes. Several years ago I was thrilled to go to the London Natural History Museum's temporary Darwin exhibit to commemorate his 200th birthday. My favorite part of the whole exhibit was Darwin's actual notebook in a glass case, open to the page that is featured on this notebook. It has his sketch of an evolutionary tree, with the words "I think" written next to it. I could just imagine the thought formulating in his mind, traveling down his arm to his hand where it flowed out of his pen onto the paper to be captured for all time. So when I saw this Paperblanks notebook of course I had to have it!!!!

This pocket-size journal will be the first of my notebooks that I will use as my daily logbook + journal. I will have a post with those details in a few days!

The Mini size journal is 3 1/4 by 5 1/2 inches, perfect for carrying everywhere.  The front cover of the Darwin Tree of Life journal has a copy of Darwin's original sketch and notes, and his signature on the magnetic closure flap.

Here is the book with the closure flap open so you can see Darwin's notes. I love it! This makes me feel inspired to do science again.
 Even the back of the book is cool, and a tribute to Darwin:
The decorative spine will look great on the shelf when the book is filled and retired for reference purposes:
The fountain-pen friendly pages are lined, and there is a real ribbon placemarker.
 There is a pocket in the back of the book for cards and papers.

Below is my growing collection of Paperblanks journals!
In addition to the Darwin journal featured here, you can see the Lindau journals I featured in Tuesday's post, the Book Of Kells journal I featured Wednesday, and the slim French Ornate violet journal I featured yesterday. Also you can see the Ventaglio Rosso journal I reviewed last year and used for awhile as a day per page diary. That ended when my daughter fell in love with it and commandeered it for herself!

Not present are the daily and weekly planners I reviewed awhile back because I gave them away to some very lucky people!

I love Paperblanks books because they are beautiful, well made, archival and with great (fountain pen friendly) paper. They open flat (which is extremely important to me!) and I know the books will wear well and last for decades.

My Paperblanks collection continues to grow. Next on my list to buy are the Darwin Ultra journal and the Leonardo Sun and Moon Midi!

Do you love Paperblanks journals? Which ones do you have, and which ones do you want to get? (They're so collectable and addictive!)


(Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Paperblanks and receive no commission. I just really like their books!)

8 comments:

  1. That is beautiful! I love all things evolution, it's incredibly interesting! x x

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  2. Hm. Planners I have: Micro French Ornate Violet in micro (too tiny for me to write in but adorable), Blue Cats and Butterflies midi verso - day spaces too small so switched to Blue Cats and Butterflies midi weekly horizontal (for personal planning), Black Moroccan ultra verso (for work). Journals: Crystal Flower midi (my first Paperblanks), French Ornate Bleu in slim (a gift from the Merry Lemon), Santa Fe Felines midi, and Native Cats midi. And yet I want more, but especially: Japanese Lacquer Box Hotaru (fireflies), French Ornate Vert and John Keats.

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    1. mstraat was the ultra verso the one you said didn't have enough daily space for you to write?

      Yesterday I ordered a 2013 Poe planner from Amazon UK just to check it out. It was listed as used, and it plus shipping was only 6 GBP so I thought at least I could use it as a notebook. I don't even know what format it is! It could be daily, weekly vertical, or verso. It will be a fun surprise when it arrives! I mainly got it for the gorgeous purple cover, but after I ordered it I read a review that the actual color of the cover is darker, so I hope I love it when I see it in real life. It will be fun to have either way!

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    2. The ultra verso is fine for space and perfect for work because it stays on my desk, but I can't carry something that big because I carry my journal as well. The midi verso has tiny day spaces but is the perfect size to go everywhere with me.

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    3. I wish they made the Verso in the Maxi (5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inch) size!!

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  3. The only complaint I have is they don't offer many cover styles for journals in their Maxi size (5 1/2 8 1/4 inches), which surprises me because that's such a popular size for notebooks.

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    1. Agreed. The paper is so good and the largest size is perfect either for writing or for art journaling as well. Barnes and Noble used to stock a very few Paperblanks but I don't find them there any more; that's where I got the Crystal Flower one. So now I have to order online, though that is the case for all good quality paper. But it does mean, as with the Poe you have ordered, the cover isn't always what one expects. Even though it looks different I've never been disappointed.

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    2. I've found the covers actually look better in person than in photos because they have decorative details and textures that don't come through in photos. So even though the colors are sometimes different, I still like the covers for all their details.

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