Moleskine

A moleskine (pronounced mol-a-skeen-a, {{IPA|/mɔləˈskinə/}}) is a notebook bound in oilcloth-covered cardboard (Moleskin), with an elastic band to hold the notebook closed and a sewn spine that allows it to lie flat when opened. Moleskines are manufactured by Modo & Modo, an Italian company; that company also owns the trademark on the name "Moleskine". http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A1113346.

Related Topics:
Moleskin - Italian

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Moleskine's most famous endorsement comes from Bruce Chatwin, who used them constantly throughout his travels, and wrote about them glowingly. Chatwin's original source of notebooks dried up in 1986, when the owner of the Paris stationer where he purchased them died. The modern moleskine is fashioned after Chatwin's descriptions of the notebooks he used and are not a direct descendant.

Related Topics:
Bruce Chatwin - 1986

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Although Modo & Modo claims the notebook has been used by other well-known artists and writers, such as Picasso, Matisse, and Hemingway, it is not clear that they used the same style of notebook that Chatwin did, though there is evidence that they used some kind of "pocket notebook." http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A1113346. One well-known writer who has confirmed using them is Neil Gaiman, who wrote about his love of moleskine notebooks on his blog.

Related Topics:
Picasso - Matisse - Hemingway - Neil Gaiman

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Today the moleskine notebook has a romantic image as a traveler's notebook of choice, mostly due to Chatwin's heavy endorsement during his own many travels and Modo & Modo's advertising of that fact. Moleskines have a cult-like (but playful) following today http://www.moleskinerie.com/. Although more expensive than the average notebook, its adherents swear by the high quality and design.

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