A One-of-a-Kind Encyclopedia: Why Commonplace Books Still Matter

Personal collections of quotations, reflections, and observations are reemerging as a way to sift through information to preserve what matters most.

A commonplace book may have just the words or ideas needed at any particular moment. Milko/Getty Images

Commonplace books were once ... well, commonplace.

Although the idea dates back to the ancients, the commonplace book—a personal compendium of quotations taken from books and conversations, historical events of the day, recipes, anecdotes, and much more—became popular during the Renaissance and remained so through the 19th century. Writers, statesmen, and clergy such as John Locke, Michel de Montaigne, Francis Dane, and Thomas Jefferson built these collections as depots of knowledge to which they might return for inspiration. Many others kept a commonplace book for self-edification and inspiration.

Writers and thinkers considered commonplace books to be memory aids vital to their work. They were a way of keeping track of thoughts and data. Poet William Blake hit the mark when he wrote, “A book of this sort is in the nature of a supplemental memory; or a record of what occurs remarkable in every day’s reading or conversation.”

An Old Fashion Reborn

Those early keepers of commonplace books kept them in part to cope with the rising tide of knowledge and data of their time. Today, that tide is dwarfed by the storm of print and digital information coming thick and fast at us every day.

In response to this tempest of information, the commonplace book is making a comeback. Writer and editor Brianna Schubert summed up this phenomenon: “With the abundance of information we consume every day, it’s no wonder that commonplace books are resurfacing in the zeitgeist once again, because they are a great way to sift through the noise and organize the bits of information we want to remember.”

Diligently maintained commonplace books bring other advantages as well. Over time, much as sketching improves the eye of the Sunday afternoon artist, keeping this inventory of goods taken from reading and life should strengthen our powers of observation. Revisiting and reflecting on what we’ve packed away in this storehouse of knowledge can also shape our thinking and even our moral and spiritual life.

However, before creating a commonplace book, there are some things we need to consider. Here are some tips to help you along the way.

Pick the Tools Right for You

If you do the bulk of your reading electronically, or if your handwriting is often indecipherable, even to yourself, then almost certainly a digital commonplace book is best suited to you. You can create your own book via a simple document or, if you’re looking for a more sophisticated setup, you can avail yourself of sites such as Notion, Obsidian, or Readwise.

A keyboard offers convenience, but writing by hand offers a closer and more intimate connection to whatever it is you wish to preserve.

In the article “How to Create a Digital Website,” Michael Barlow wrote: “Some of my favorite authors warn against doing exactly what I am about to propose because with automation you skip a major element of the learning process: writing and thinking. While I don’t disagree with them, my biggest challenge is time. I’m not a professional author.”

It’s true that we retain more of what we copy by hand.

Podcaster Jared Henderson, who has devoted at least two YouTube videos to the commonplace journal, said: “Writing by hand is linked to memory retention.

“There’s something also really powerful [about] just writing it down by hand.”

If you decide to take the paper-and-pen pathway, you should invest in a sturdy notebook whose size makes writing comfortable for you. And who knows? You may fill several of these notebooks, and someday someone may find your commonplace book to be an oasis of hope and inspiration.

Digital tools make it easy to organize and revisit commonplace entries, while handwriting creates a deeper connection to memory and thought. time99lek/Getty Images

Organization Is Key

This point can’t be stressed enough. Nearly everyone who offers advice about starting a commonplace book emphasizes the importance of some system of arrangement. Long ago, Locke even wrote a guide on this subject, published first in French and then in 1706 in English, “New Method of Making Common-Place Books.”

Digital programs offer this structure, but for those writing by hand in a notebook, the simplest approach is to devise a table of contents with general headings under which you will record the extracts from what you’ve read, heard, or seen, accompanied by page numbers. If you run out of space—if you fill up, for instance, a chapter devoted to the topic of courage—then you go to the unallotted pages at the back of the journal and simply start a new chapter: “Courage II.”

Note cards are also a favorite vehicle for recording quotations and thoughts. They allow the flexibility missing in a notebook; you still organize the cards by subject matter, but you never have to worry about running out of pages. For decades, President Ronald Reagan compiled four-by-six-inch cards for his “favorite aphorisms, jokes, asides, and timeless nuggets of political wisdom.”

No system’s perfect for everyone, so do whatever works best for you. The aim is to be able to find what you’re looking for as your entries increase.

Reference the Entry

Make the effort to cite your source. If you’ve typed or written down Winston Churchill’s line “It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations,” put the book’s title and page number under the quotation. If a friend opens the door to a cafe for a woman holding two small children by the hand and says to her, “You go ahead; you’re holding the future,” write down when and where that took place.

You’ll save yourself a lot of headaches if you cite references.

Revisit Your Commonplace Book Frequently

Your collection isn’t a storage attic. It’s a working tool for contemplation, inspiration, and memory retrieval. Keep the book handy for adding to the inventory and for reflection. What you’ve written may offer just the words you need at a particular moment.

A Special Note for Teachers

Having students keep commonplace books can help them develop their writing abilities. Presumably, they’ll be copying out passages from good books of literature and history. By copying out quotations they like, they are in a sense teaching themselves. They’re also practicing their handwriting, and the material they’re collecting can give them food for thought in their own essays as well.

Commonplace books can provide inspiration not just for the writers, but for anyone who reads them. Drazen Zigic/Shutterstock

It’s All Yours

Victorian minister, author, and poet Charles Kingsley wrote, “Keep a commonplace book, and put into it, not only facts and thoughts, but observations on form, and colour, and nature, and little sketches, even to the form of beautiful leaves.”

How and why and when you put together and keep a commonplace book depends on your own intentions and whims. As it grows, like a scrapbook, it becomes a mirror of sorts, reflecting your past in the ideas, words, and images that have appealed to you over time.

When used at its best, it’s not commonplace at all. It’s a book of love, a monument built of things you have treasured.