Comments on: Leuchtturm 1917 notebooks

By: Alabamapenman

Alabamapenman — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:58:59 +0000

After filling close to twenty journals from various makers with fountain pen writings, I came across the Leuchtturm1917 and purchased it online. I think it is great. the only complaint is the lines are so light they are of limited usefulness. I have realized sometimes that I have drifted away from the lines. Perhaps older writers, who also need more light to read, would benefit from lines that were 10 or 20 per cent darker.

By: gab

gab — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 22:52:59 +0000

i’ve been looking for these notebooks for a long time. Where exactly did you find them in waterloo?

By: Claire

Claire — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 04:22:51 +0000

Coming in two years after Razorgoto posted the question these notebooks are probably everywhere now, but I still want to chip in: Midoco on Bloor and Bathurst carries them, along with several other art/stationery stores.

I remember this location carries Leuchtturm quite clearly because of something silly of me: I didn’t know of this brand before going to the store. A student-looking person picked one of these up, I glanced at the label, caught only the first 4 letters and extrapolated it. ‘lecturenotes,’ i thought to myself, ‘why would anyone call their product lecturenotes?!’ The association from the buyer to lectures didn’t help catching the mistake. Anyway, that’s where I first spotted this brand.

By: penciladmin

penciladmin — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 21:53:02 +0000

Owen, thanks for sharing your findings.

I live relatively near to Galt, and have also enjoyed the great service that Phidon Pens offers. I love the whole store, but especially the Epica shelf – they are incredibly beautiful journals.

There are three excellent art galleries in walking distance from Phidon, so I love to visit the galleries, have lunch, and wind up the trip with a visit to Phidon.

By: Owen

Owen — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 16:06:06 +0000

Phidon Pens in Galt (Cambridge) Ontario, is another Canadian source for these excellent notebooks. Mano (owner along with husband Baldeep – really wonderful people -) introduced introduced me to this line of notebooks just this week. (I try to get into the store when I am in the area and when not I order by phone and have them ship.) I was going to buy some more Moleskine but the generous page size and quantity as well as the no-bleed one me over. I can’t wait to finish my current Moleskine notebook to try out the new doted notebook. I can see this as being a real keeper because the dots give me a line to follow for journal writing but a nicer surface for doodling than ruled as I inevitably doodle as well as write.

The Leuchtturm’s I bought all came with the sticky notes. The detachable pages are only 8, as you mentioned. I also bought the very large *Master* 100 gsm in a nice red cover for sketching. I am curious to find out how it compares with the Moleskine Folio 160 gsm.

In-store I saw both 80 gsm & 100 gsm Leuchtturm notebooks with sample inks and nib sizes applied, including large *wet* lines – no bleed at all.

At any rate, I have bought from Mano & Baldeep for roughly three years now. They are wonderful people to deal with. Ordering by phone or email & having items shipped to the city I live in has always been a smooth experience.

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:48:00 +0000

Thanks for the article and great comments!
Cynthia, that was exactly the information I was looking for. I’ve been using Moleskines for years, but finally want something with better quality paper. Some of my inks just bleed too much.

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:09:34 +0000

I can confirm that these are lovely notebooks. In August of this year, Leuchtturm notebooks were all produced with “Ink Proof” paper which resists ink bleed through. The index and numbered pages really set this line of journals apart from the glut of journals on the market. The feedback I have gotten from Leuchtturm users has been very positive. The build and materials are of excellent quality and the prices are generally below those of the Moleskine journals. You should consider trying one if you have been disappointed with the paper in the Moleskine notebooks or if you are looking for a high quality notebook with a reasonable price.

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:35:09 +0000

An index! What a brilliant idea!

By: penciladmin

penciladmin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:57:50 +0000

Teefish, thanks for that insight. Pondering this subject, the looseleaf Clairefontaine paper I’ve seen does have the darkest rules I’ve seen.

Gunther, thank you for the compliment.

Razorgoto, it was purchased in Waterloo. The distributor is the well known Kikkerland, so I expect this product will soon be available from many sources.

There are six sewn signatures of 32 pages (8 pieces of paper, unfolded.) The sewing is “tight”, so that the journal does not open as flatly as I might like, but it’s been fine in practice. The leaflet says it is “thread-bound”. Looking closely, there appear to be eight barely visible stitches between each page.

By: Razorgoto

Razorgoto — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:10:11 +0000

Two questions:

(1) I have not seen them in Toronto. Where did you buy them?
(2) Can you describe the binding? It’s usually what makes me pay $15 over $1.50 for a notebook.

By: Gunther

Gunther — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:19:48 +0000

Thank you for that detailled review and the nice photos! I have recently acquired a Leuchtturm 1917 notebook myself and I can also highly recommend them.

By: teefish

teefish — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:42:23 +0000

the bold printing on the French version is likely _not_ just a print run issue. the French like their graph-paper style writing paper and they like it bold. i’m told this is the kind of paper they use in French schools so they tend to use the same thereafter. almost all paper printed in France is the same: 5×5 quad paper in fairly bold blue ink. it’s often tricky to find the “ruled” style paper that is the norm in Canada and the US.