Journal 31 X 11 CM

192 sides of plain ivory paper, 110 gsm. 

Covers are a hand block printed paper by John and Jane Jeffery, hand coloured.

THis book has been made to replicate the size and shape of the commonplace book of Richard Hill, which was complied between 1503-1526, in the reign of Henry VIII. The shape is that of a contemporary account book. The original manuscript was a volume of 514 pages, and can still be seen in the archives of Balliol College, at Oxford University. A note about the history and contents of Richard Hill's work, and about the history and use of Commonplace Books, is enclosed with the book. 

Commonplace Books are a very purposeful way of using a journal, or giving one as a gift. They have been used since the Fifteenth Century, the idea being to record passages of text, poems, quotations, recipes, reading lists, drawings, sayings, family turns of phrase, calligraphy, aspirations  - any words of perceived wisdom or personal significance -  all making up a memoir of the author’s interests over a number of years. All sorts of famous people have kept Commonplace Books including John Milton, Napoleon Bonaparte, Lewis Carroll and Virginia Woolf.  

(JEFFERY A)