Commonplace books emerged in the 15th century when cheap paper became readily available. They were essentially journals in which were placed quotations, recipes, formulas, prayers, proverbs, etc. In the 18th century, they were used for copying poems or snippets of poetry the gatherer wished to remember. Some say that the commonplace books were guides to the culture of the day. One definition read, "a book in which are entered literary excerpts, striking passages and personal comments." They were kept by such people as John Milton, George Eliot, Mark Twain and Thomas Jefferson.
Some compare the blogs of today with the commonplace books.
I didn't know what it was, but I have been keeping a commonplace book for the last 21 years. Over the next few blogs, I will list some for posterity's sake--and because I like to read over them every now and then.
Feb. 20, 1987:
A man without humor is like a wagon without springs--he is jolted disagreeably by every pebble in the road.
Henry Ward Beecher
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A writer must be word-hungry.
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Laughter is the hand of God on the shoulder of a very troubled world.
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An artist must be idea-hungry, that is, in a state of mind receptive to ideas. Horn Book, Don Wood, Sept.-Oct. 1986
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(Children's authors) may deal in wonder; but reality is ever present. Robert Hale
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Writing "under the gun" is not writing. Eileen Tway, Time for Writing in The Elementary School.
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Maia Wojciechowska once told of being asked what she was doing when she was a child at school and responding,
"Thinking." "Well, stop it!" the teacher directed. The event provoked her father into taking her out of school. (As he knew) time to think is essential to the education of children.
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A journal is one's gift to oneself. Patricia Lee Gauch
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