Journal 31 X 11 CM

192 sides of plain ivory paper, 110 gsm. 

Covers are a hand-marbled paper by Victoria Hall. Victoria has an extensive knowledge of historical paper decoration and specialises in highly-skilled fine antiquarian and period style marbling. 

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.