Review by Tina Koyama
Last fall I reviewed Notegeist Bindery’s Everyday line of pocket notebooks. Among the many designs owner Gary Varner has added to the collection since then are very limited handbound editions. He has some new size formats, too.
First up are 3 ½-by-5 ½-inch Butterflys & Peacocks (currently discounted at 2/$12) with lovely covers printed in Italy. The mango leaf Kozo tissue flyleaves are a luxurious touch. The two designs are handstitched with waxed thread in coordinating colors.
Another handbound limited edition was By the Bay (now sold out), an homage to San Francisco. A century-old map of the city with fun illustrations is reprinted on the covers. The current limited edition is Dark Skies, which comes with a matching shelf bin.
Both of these handbound editions contain dot-grid ruled, 80-pound Maruman Mnemosyne paper, which is the same as was used in the editions I reviewed previously (paper tests shown in that review). The smooth paper performs better than most pocket-size notebooks when using broad fountain pens and inks that typically bleed or feather.
A new edition in the Everyday staplebound collection features the intriguing work of 16th century artist Lorenz Stoer (3/$14). Designs shown here are in Pack A. Pack B includes three more designs. (Several other designs available in this series; check out the lovely parrots!)
This series features unruled, 70-pound French PopTone paper (graph and ruled options also available), which I prefer to the smoother Mnemosyne. Testing it with my usual assortment of pens and other media, nothing bled through or feathered, not even a fat Kuretake brush pen or my juicy Sailor Fude de Mannen fountain pen with Platinum Carbon ink. While it’s still smooth enough with fountain pens, the subtle tooth makes it better with graphite and colored pencils. I’m looking forward to using these unruled books for sketching.
DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Notegeist for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.
Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.
Thanks for the rec, I just bought a couple sets for me and a friend 🙂