How to Keep a Commonplace Book: The Renaissance-Era Practice That’s Making a Comeback

Studies have shown that journaling can boost your mental health and help you process difficult emotions—even if you don’t end up keeping what you’ve written down. But it can be a daunting task to approach, especially if you’re trying to get into the habit of doing it regularly. If you’re looking for a reflective practice that’s slightly less intimidating than keeping a diary—or you’re an avid journaler looking for an excuse to buy a new notebook—there’s an ancient practice making a resurgence: keeping a commonplace book.

1. From Aristotle to Shakespeare: Commonplace Books Through History
2. How to Craft a Modern Commonplace Book

From Aristotle to Shakespeare: Commonplace Books Through History

Commonplace books are essentially collections of any written material the owner finds interesting, all in one place. The most typical pieces of writing they contain are quotations, chosen because either their phrasing or the content resonated with the compiler. But throughout history, recipes, facts, jokes, pieces of gossip, and even housekeeping advice have all made their way into what inevitably becomes a hodge-podge project reflecting the owner’s values and interests. 

Similar compilations have cropped up across the world over the centuries, but the earliest known examples come from Ancient Greece and Rome. Philosophers and statesmen like Aristotle and Marcus Aurelius kept written record of their observations, quotations, and ideas, often for later use in debates and speeches. This is where the term commonplace book comes from; the Greeks referred to these collections as topoi, or topics, and the Romans in turn emphasized their collective nature by calling them loci, or commonplaces, in Latin.

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In 3rd-century China, a similar medium emerged: biji, or notebook. A collection of anything the author thought was worth jotting down, from stories to quotations to random thoughts, biji peaked around the 7th century and shared many qualities with modern commonplace books. Similar trends cropped up in Japan in the 17th century and Poland and Lithuania from the 1500s to the 1700s. 

It was through the Middle Ages to the Renaissance and Enlightenment, however, when commonplace books were really, well, commonplace in Western society—especially in England. The printing press was invented in the 1400s, and over the next century paper prices hit historic lows. This combination meant that books could be produced on a larger scale than ever before.

Faced with access to thousands of books for the first time, many readers feared “information overload”; the commonplace book became a way to cope and be more intentional about media consumption. Famous intellectual and literary figures like William Shakespeare, Victor Hugo, Thomas Jefferson, and, notably, John Locke (who published his own guide on how to craft a commonplace book in 1685) all adopted the practice, and many of these handwritten journals are still accessible in archives.

Nowadays, commonplace books are on the rise again. In The New York Times, Charley Locke endorses keeping a commonplace book as a method for self-growth. It allows her to self-reflect with kindness while avoiding the self-flagellation that sometimes come from traditional journaling. “I couldn’t catalog my flaws without flinching,” she writes. “And I don’t think I need to ... Keeping a commonplace book feels like a kinder way to grow, by wrestling with the articulations of others in the open as I hopefully adjust myself within.”

How to Craft a Modern Commonplace Book

If you’re interested in starting a commonplace yourself, there are just a few key steps for setting one up. The first is often the hardest: choosing your headings. These headings can reflect the type of text you’re writing down (recipes, for example) or a particular theme you’re collecting thoughts on (like musings about love). Assign those headings sections in the notebook, and then create a table of contents at the beginning for later reference. And just like that, you’re ready to start your collection. When you stumble upon something that resonates with you, just flip to or create the appropriate section, write it down, and add as many notes as you like.

One of the biggest divisions among commonplace bookkeepers comes down to format: physical or digital. Each version has its own merits: Writing in a physical notebook helps with memorization and analysis, plus it provides a great break from screen usage. Digital ones, on the other hand, are more portable, searchable, and customizable. In the end, both formats have their pros and cons, so the best version for you is probably the one that you’ll actually use. 

Just as the first surge in commonplace books happened during the dawn of the printing press, it’s no surprise that this revival coincides with the digital age. The practice remains a great antidote for information overload: Deliberately picking out quotations that resonate and taking the time to write them down and ponder them is an act of mindfulness. In addition to forcing you to take a pause from mindless scrolling, it’s a way to foster a greater sense of belonging by emphasizing common experience.

As the famous James Baldwin quote goes, “You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.” It’s a fitting motto for a commonplace book, and perhaps a great first entry.