Moleskine

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Inside view of a Moleskine ruled notebook; the elastic band is visible on the right, as is the bookmark in the center.

Moleskine is a brand of notebook manufactured by Moleskine srl, an Italian company. Although the name implies otherwise, the notebook is not bound in moleskin, but in oilcloth-covered cardboard. Other distinct features include an elastic band to hold the notebook closed, a sewn spine that allows it to lie flat when opened, rounded corners, a ribbon bookmark and an expandable pocket inside the rear cover.

The modern Moleskine is fashioned after Bruce Chatwin's descriptions of the notebooks he used and is not a direct descendant of the original Moleskine. Chatwin used similar notebooks constantly throughout his travels, and wrote about them glowingly. His original source of notebooks dried up in 1986, when his Paris stationer informed him that the last moleskine manufacturer, a small family-run firm of Tours, had discontinued production that year after the death of the owner.

Aside from Moleskine, there are now a number of companies that produce notebooks similar to Chatwin's description, including Lama Li Travel Journals, Derwent, and Hand+Book Journals.

Contents

[edit] Moleskine srl and the Moleskine

Although Moleskine srl claims their notebook has been used by well-known artists and writers, such as Picasso, Matisse, Kurakin and Hemingway, the brand Moleskine was officially registered only in 1996. Francesco Franceschi, head of Modo & Modo's marketing department, was quoted as saying, "It's an exaggeration. It's marketing, not science. It's not the absolute truth."[1]

In 2006, Modo & Modo, the old Italian publisher, began looking to sell the company or partner with someone to help it expand. According to a 2006 article in The Daily Telegraph, the company reports that its small staff was unable to keep up with demand.[2] In August 2006, the French investment fund Société Générale purchased Modo & Modo for 60 million euros.[3]

[edit] Moleskine's product line

Modo & Modo's Moleskine product line

Moleskine srl sells Moleskine notebooks in many varieties, and frequently introduce new variations on the basic notebook (such as storyboard and reporter versions).

[edit] Current products

The "standard" notebooks come in two sizes, pocket 9 by 14 cm (3.5 x 5.5 inches; slightly smaller than A6 paper) and large 13 by 21 cm (5.25 x 8.25 inches; slightly narrower than A5 paper). In addition to those sizes, there is also an extra-large 19 x 25 cm (7.5 x 9.75 inches; somewhat smaller than A4 paper) size.

  • Pocket notebooks are available in many varieties: ruled, squared, plain, address book, info book, and music (192 pages each); sketchbook and storyboard (80 pages of heavier paper); Japanese pocket album (60 zig-zag folded pages); and memo pockets (six pockets instead of paper).
  • Large notebooks are available in ruled, squared, plain, and address book (240 pages); sketchbook, with 100 pages; and memo pockets (six pockets).
  • Diaries come in large, extra-large, and pocket sizes, as above, and in "diary" and "weekly diary" versions. Weekly Notebooks are also available. These feature a new layout, with the week at a glance on the left and plain notepaper on the right. The 18 month version runs from July to December. They have soft covers (like the Cahier range) and are available in pocket (9×14 cm), large (13×21 cm), and extra-large (19x25 cm) sizes. In addition they have a thinner paper than the traditional notebook to allow the lines from the notepaper to be viewed through the page. They have an interior back pocket.
  • Cahier (Fr. for "notebook", pronounced kah-yay, /ka'je/) notebooks are thinner, and come in sets of three. They are also available in two different colors, black or buff(kraft). They have a thin, flexible cardboard cover, without the durable oilcloth cover, and also lack the bookmark and elastic closure present on the other notebooks, and have a visible stitched spine. The three sizes are pocket (64 pages), large (80 pages), and extra large (19 by 25 cm (7.5 x 9.75 inches); 120 pages); each size comes in ruled, squared, or plain varieties.
  • Reporter notebooks are similar to the standard notebooks, except that they are bound at the shorter edge instead of on the longer edge. They come in pocket and large sizes, and in ruled, squared, and plain styles.

[edit] City Notebooks

In May 2006, Modo & Modo announced the production of the new City Notebooks line of Moleskines.

These notebooks are based around one major world city, and will serve as a self-written guidebook to that city. The books are in the 3.5 by 5.5 inches (9×14 cm) size, with 228 pages and three different-colored ribbon placemarkers. They include an overall map of the city, as well as large-scale maps of areas within the city, and an index of streets. There are blank pages for notes, as well as removable sheets for exchanging messages and transparent sticky sheets to use as map overlays.

A tabbed section has tabs for: "Food: Places, legends, recipes", "Drinks: Bars, wineries, stories", "Sleep: Places, dreams, adventures", "People: Names, faces, encounters", "Places: Info, shopping, art", and "Books, movies, music." In addition there are five blank tabbed pages and a sticker set of labels including fifteen with printed labels, and twenty blank labels for you to make up your own headings.

City Notebooks are being released in batches as follows:

2006
Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Dublin, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Prague, Rome, Vienna and Lisbon.
2007
Boston, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.. Chicago, Los Angeles, Montreal, Seattle, Florence and Venice.
2008
Athens, Beijing, Brussels, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Kyoto, Miami, Munich, Philadelphia, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, Torino, Toronto, Vancouver, and Zurich.

[edit] Volant Relaunched

Volant notebooks were similar to the Cahiers, but without the back pocket. They had soft covers which unlike the Cahiers were coated with the same oilskin material as the standard Moleskines. They came in ruled, squared, plain, and address book varieties, and in pocket (64 pages) and large (80 pages) sizes.

These are being relaunched in 2008 and will be available in a range of colours.

[edit] Moleskine production

The Moleskine products are assembled/stitched in Italy, printed in China since 2006. Details printed on the external label band indicate these changes.

The below only refers to the USA: On notebooks released up through 2006, the band read: "Kikkerland Design Inc. 423-427 West 127th Street New York, NY 10027 - www.kikkerland.com." As of 2006-2007, the band now adds the following: "Printed and bound in China" and "Designed and assembled in Italy".

In late 2006, Laura Kellner, a representative of Kikkerland Design, Inc., the U.S. distributor of Moleskine products, confirmed changes to the product label and packaging, elaborating "...the changes that have occurred are the labeling to include Made in China, the [label] band has changed in the last couple of years (color coding the different styles), and the insert story has been updated from time to time with new product information, the newest books now have a quality control number."

For the rest of the world — where most Moleskines are sold — the band has not changed.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Horowitz, Jason (2004-10-16). "Does a Moleskine notebook tell the truth?". International Herald Tribune. http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/10/16/mmole_ed3_.php. Retrieved on 2007-08-31. 
  2. ^ Moore, Malcolm (2006-04-19). "A classic Hemingway favourite goes up for sale". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/04/19/cnmole19.xml. Retrieved on 2007-08-31. 
  3. ^ Heuzé, Richard (2006-08-05). "Les carnets Moleskine redeviennent français" (in French). Le Figaro. http://www.lefigaro.fr/eco-entreprises/20060805.FIG000000547_les_carnets_moleskine_redeviennent_francais.html. Retrieved on 2007-08-31. 

[edit] External links

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