Moleskine \mol-a-skeen-a\ is the heir of the legendary notebook used for the past two centuries by great artists and thinkers, including Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, André Breton and Ernest Hemingway.
Moleskine has just announced a new flexible, softcover version of their traditional hardcover notebook. That's 192 pages (96 sheets) of quality Moleskinerial goodness in your pick of ruled, graph or plain paper.
{ Win a softcover Moleskine today! I'm having a little contest. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for details. Play! Win! Or...buy one here. }
The little black Moleskine notebook, with its rounded corners, elastic closure and expandable inner pocket, was originally a nameless object. It was produced by a small French bookbinder that supplied Parisian stationery shops frequented by the international literary and artistic set.
In the mid-1980s, however, the original manufacturer closed down - the notebook was no longer available. In his book, Songlines, Bruce Chatwin tells the whole story of his favorite notebook, which he nicknamed 'Moleskine.' And this, as the tale goes, is where Moleskine got its name.
Fast forward to 1998. Modo & Modo, the old Italian publisher, brought the notebook back to life, taking the name Moleskine from Chatwin's writing. Since then, the notebooks have enjoyed extraordinary popularity - obtaining nothing short of cult status through fabulous sites such as moleskinerie, flickr moleskinerie pool and skineart. If you know of other Moleskine links, please, please, pretty please share the goodness.
In 2006, Modo & Modo began looking to sell the company or partner with someone to help it expand. According to an article in The Daily Telegraph, the company reported that its small staff was unable to keep up with demand. In August of 2006, the French investment fund, Société Générale, purchased Modo & Modo for 60 million euros.
So, (show and) tell us. What's in your Moleskine?
From a collage series, Pisanka, that I created last year in one of my watercolor Moleskines. I'm working on some others for Russian Easter '08 - coming up next Sunday, April 27, in fact.
Irina Troitskaya. Irina's website is magical.
Will Freeborn
skineart
MattiasA
skineart
skineart
Moleskine art (at the tippy top) courtesy of edgaroid. So. Cool.
* Win a softcover Moleskine.
Answer this: what is the etymology of 'holy moley?' Educated (witty, clever, but incorrect) guesses are welcome and will be rewarded along with correct answers, of course. You're on the honor system here. Email or comment today! The answer - and winner(s) - will be announced later this week.
4.20.2008
holy moley*
