Commonplace Books

“The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.”

― T.H. White, The Once and Future King

That’s one of my favourite quotes. Learning has always been there for me; it's been my constant companion through so much. When my mum was diagnosed with cancer in 2021, I found solace in learning everything I could about her treatment. When I moved to Scotland with barely anything to my name, I found comfort in documentaries and museum visits. I kept a digital commonplace book, but I had that itch to have a physical one, too. There's something about writing things down with your favourite pen that typing can't quite capture.

What is a Commonplace Book?

A commonplace book is a type of journal where you gather quotes, interesting facts, poems, recipes, sketches, passing thoughts, the kind of things you want to hold onto. Think of it as an external hard drive for your brain. They're often divided into categories and are indexed to make it easier to find the information you are looking for. You could also colour-code the edges of your pages if you prefer a more flexible feel.

The origin of the Commonplace book, or commonplaces, can be traced back to Aristotle, who used the term to group types of philosophical arguments and called these groups commonplaces or locus communis in Latin. The concept was expanded upon by Cicero (because of course it was), Quintilian, Seneca the Younger, and others. They became popular across Europe in the Early Modern period, and later became a place for women (who were not allowed to access formal education) to write down things they had learnt.

Eventually, the practice of keeping a commonplace book was being taught at Oxford and, most likely, at other institutions. The Open University suggests its students keep a variation on the commonplace book to aid in their studies. Their use can extend far beyond that, though. A family or household could keep a shared one with recipes, or how-to guides for using the mashing machine and other appliances, care instructions for houseplants, or even advice for the easiest way to clean the shower head.

My Book

I actually have two. A large B5 one that sits by my desk, and a small travel notebook that comes with me to museums. I really love traveller's notebooks for commonplace books, because you can swap the inserts around for whatever suits your needs. Going on a long journey and want to take a sketch book to doodle in on the train? Take your sketchbook insert. Mine has an insert that is a list of museums and exhibitions that I want to see, an insert with a list of things I spot in museums that I want to research further, and the one I swap out is like a running diary of thoughts, quotes, and facts I find along the way.

Inside my large commonplace book, you’ll find:

• Quotes and Latin phrases

• Alphabets that I find interesting... actually, there's quite a lot on linguistics

• Random facts (like the time Napoleon was attacked by rabbits)

• A list of my favourite words found in old dictionaries

• Greek and Latin poems that I want to translate one day

• A small rant about Tolkien on my runic alphabet page

• Notes from podcasts and lectures

• And so much more!

I'd also like this website to turn into a kind of commonplace book that you are able to access, partly so I can unload my mind of all of its open tabs, but also to show you that you don't have to know everything about a subject to enjoy it. Sometimes I find a historical fact that tickles my brain, but I don't feel a need to research it further, and that is just as valid as doing a deep dive into a topic. There are also those times when the brain fog and fatigue from my fibro mean I simply can't research something to the extent I'd like to, but I'd still like to share my thoughts and findings. That's the kind of thing you will find over on the Signa's Journal page.