Keeping a commonplace book: an old habit worth reviving

A commonplace book is a notebook in which you copy out the passages, quotations, recipes, remedies and remarks you want to keep. The practice was widespread among readers in Europe from the Renaissance onward, and it survived into the twentieth century in various forms.

Where the habit comes from

Students in early modern Europe were taught to collect striking passages from their reading under headings, so that they could find and reuse them when writing or speaking. The word "commonplace" comes from the Latin locus communis, a general topic or heading. In the late seventeenth century the philosopher John Locke published a method for indexing such a notebook so that entries could be found again quickly, which shows how seriously people took the habit.

Over time the books became more personal. They held recipes, household accounts, poems, prayers, jokes and gossip alongside quotations. They are a useful source for historians precisely because they record what ordinary readers found worth keeping.

Why it still works

A commonplace book is not a diary and not a set of notes for work. It is a record of what caught you, which is often a better portrait of your mind than anything you could write on purpose. Copying a passage by hand also slows you down enough to notice why you like it.

How to start one

1. Choose any notebook. A plain one is best, so that you do not feel it has to be beautiful.
2. Copy, do not summarise. Write the exact words, with the author and source. Add a date.
3. Add a line of your own if you wish: why it stuck.
4. Leave the last pages blank for an index, or number your pages and keep a running list of topics at the back.
5. Reread it every few months. You will see what you keep coming back to.

What this article is not saying

There is no evidence offered here that keeping a notebook improves memory or wellbeing. It is a habit that many people enjoy and find useful, and its long history is a record of that.