Commonplace Books: How Romantics and Victorians Organized Information
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- Опубліковано 14 чер 2024
- How did romantics and Victorians organize information? I will share what I have learned from this book written by Jillian M. Hess, so you can get started with your own commonplace book or journal.
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00:00 About commonplace books
01:32 Why you should commonplace
04:15 Review
07:55 Quotes - Розваги
I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on this book. The author has a Substack called Noted about historic and famous notebooks and note takers from various decades. It’s fun to read and see all the notebook photos she shares.
Wow, that's amazing! Thank you so much for stopping by. Glad you enjoyed it :)
I like how you included the part about the book being devalued as soon as women gained access to it. That sort of thing popped up in the book a bit more than I expected; and, it made the book feel a lot more real! I might have undersold the challenging to read part haha. It's definitely impossible to read all at one time - especially if someone doesn't take notes on it. Oh to be a British Aristocrat with the ability to buy rare books and destroy them at will haha. Great video!
Haha imagine. Thank you so much for stopping by 🥰
@@ProseAndPetticoats Was there a specific part of the book that you found particularly difficult to get through or annoying to read (other than the book destruction lol)?
Generally speaking: I found the beginning to be easier to get through and much more exciting! Although I think that might be because it was more about what commonly accepted practices were, rather than innovation or alteration which strayed to the edge of the category; and wasn't always something that maintained my interest. Although it is commonplace books... scrapbooks, and albums haha. I found myself to be quite worried at certain points, because I read the bit about women's work not being appreciated, and then I got to the part about women in the book and started struggling :/
like am I part of the problem? is this section of the book not well written? was it written in a way to make people question themselves?
No, I didn't have issues with the content, but with the academic writing ;) It was pretty difficult at times.
And it's not your fault that women were treated badly back then. :)
I want to do this!! I already can think of 3 different subjects I could fill the books with.
That's amazing! Good luck 😍
Even though I have never acquired the habit of journaling, I found this fascinating. I had never heard the term "commonplacing" so, once again, I learned something new from watching your videos. Thank you!
That makes me happy! Thank you for watching 🥰
I don’t keep a commonplace book but I found this a really interesting concept. Thank you.
I saw that book a while back, and being into both Victoriana and journaling/scrapbooking, I was tempted to get it, but sadly, had more boring items higher up on the shopping list, and forgot about it. On looking at the chapter headings it seemed to have lots of info crammed in, on a fascinating topic. Hobbies were pretty serious obsessions for the upper classes then, as I'm sure you know, and we still benefit from some of the theorising, cataloging, note-taking, and journaling that the Victorians did. Have you read John Fowle's "The French Lieutenant's Woman", because that's a wonderful glimpse inside of Victorian society, and how the upper classes lived, not to mention ( but I will) Darwinian theories and copious amounts of note-taking, cataloguing, and collections of fossils in gentlemen's studies? A fab read that your video put me in mind of.
The victorians were inspring in many ways! No, I never heard of that book before. I will look into it. Thank you for the recommendation!
Hello Emmelie! I hope you are doing well. Even though I do not journal, I still found your video very interesting. Being a student of history, I knew that people would cut locks off their hair, especially those of loved ones who had died. However, I never heard of collecting fingerprints. Also, I agree with you that I could never tear/cut out pages of my books to place anywhere b/c I could never destroy or deface a book that I enjoyed (or even disliked). Finally, I also loved your quote that "books are like old friends" as that is how I see mine. Keep up the great work and I look forward to your next video. Have a great week!
Thank you so much, David 😘
I previously always ignored my commonplace journal... but now I guess I'll try to give it another try
That' great! Love that you will try it again.
Sounds like a serious, academic history of that activity, and I can see how that academic mode can lead to strange deviations and perhaps too much density in the prose style. I'm thankful you read through a passage from the book yourself; gave me an excellent sense of what to expect. That said, you really made me interested in this book in a way I wouldn't otherwise have been (commonplace books have always felt distant from me, but maybe, as you point to, there's a gender bias behind that, and I should reflect on it). Through and through, I found this whole review quite insightful. Wonderful job!
I'm glad the video met your expectations and did what it was supposed to do! Always a pleasure seeing you in the comments. You describe it well. It indeed felt academic. :)
Perhaps I've been doing this but call it something else? With my journals I have what I call supplemental notebooks and additional notepads. My story projects are all in the same universe, so as I write (and sketch maps and illustrations) in my various journals and supplemental notebooks and pads, it's as though I am immersed in the life of my universe; when it's time to work on my stories I look at all I have drawn and written treating it as ancient mysteries of this forgotten universe I'm gradually piecing together, telling these stories. Makes my fictional universe feel more alive.
That's great! I also didn't know I was already commonplacing 🤭 It's nice to have a name for it. What are you currently working on?
@@ProseAndPetticoats I recently finished chapter eleven of a novel that is book one of a trilogy, started the third chapter of a stand alone novel that takes place centuries before my trilogy and I am nearly finished with chapter one of my first novella. Each one is in the first draft stage. Working on one helps me stay focused and work on another faster.
@@ArthurKain Wow, I have never heard someone working on different novels at the same time. I could never! It sounds interesting and complex. Wishing you the best of luck.
@@ProseAndPetticoats Thank you! I tried writing one story at a time, only to run face first into writer's block. I went back to my original method of writing several at once and the words burst forth I easily leap into my story. I've accepted that as my creative method. Every author I learn from has different methods, some such as Tolkien and Ulysses S. Grant had very similar ones to mine. Which helps me to not fight this natural flow for me.
@@ArthurKain I love that you have figured out what works for you! 😍 keep going!
Such an interesting topic. Will the incident with the crazy cat go into the journal? I know my cat likes to get the zoomies around 2am. every morning.
Haha it's funny that your cat has a set time to go crazy 🤭 And no, it won't go into the journal lol.
Do you journal while you're still reading a book? Or do you finish reading the book or maybe a chapter at a time, and then write about it?
It depends. Sometimes I sit down after my reading session, other times I journal when I finish a chapter. I would recommend finding out what works best for you and for the novel you're currently reading.
@@ProseAndPetticoats Thanks.
Without realizing it, I have been commonplacing since around 2007! The problem is: I have too much information now. Could you recommend methods to organize/categorize it all?
Thank you for this video. ❤
I've seen people use an index or colour codes, then number the pages so they can find exactly what they're looking for
There are several options. You could keep a separate journal for every topic you want to learn about. You could also digitalize it - I use the app Notion (it's free) to copy all that's in my commonplace books, so I can easily find things. You could also use one commonplace book for every topic, but then you'll have to number your pages and make some kind of index, since this could become chaotic :) hope this helps!
@@ProseAndPetticoats Do you copy Everything in Notion?
@@AlatarielMeneldur I do. :)
Your place looks so beautiful and unreal, where do you live just curious x
Belgium! Wallpaper makes all the difference 🥰
Congratulations on meeting the challenge of a demanding read that was slower than anticipated to digest.
Haha. I thought I could read it over the weekend. Oh, how wrong I was 🤣