Galen Leather Notebook Cover: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Galen Leather has galloped onto the scene with beautiful leather products. I am reviewing their leather notebook cover for 3.5 x 5.5 size notebooks.

The review unit sent to Pen Addict is a beautiful burgundy color. This particular model is $44.00, but there are other versions ranging from $37.00 to $39.00. I’ve been carrying this in my purse for a couple of months, and the leather is unmarred and as perfect as the day I removed it from its box.

The notebook comes in a brown cardboard box.

An evil eye charm is also enclosed. I wish the charm was attached to a ribbon or a band so you could use it as a bookmark or a cover closure.

The cover and inside pockets are hand-stitched with waxed thread.

Inside there is a pen holder and two pockets for credit cards or business cards, plus the pockets for inserting a notebook.

The leather is soft and supple unlike many notebook covers that are made of more rigid leather.

You can fit a variety of notebooks in this leather cover. It was made with Field Notes in mind, but you can use any notebooks in the 3.5 x 5.5 size (Word Notebooks, Rhodia, etc.). Unfortunately this version is a bit too small for the Hobonichi Techo (though Galen makes a cover specifically for the Hobonichi).

This is a lovely cover, but there are a few things I don’t like about it. First, the pen holder is too small to hold most fountain pens. In fact, the only one that fits (barely) is my Lamy 2000. Since this notebook is in my purse, and I don’t like my fountain pens being exposed, I have been carrying it with a Pilot Hi-Tec C pen instead.

The cover seems to be a bit large for the notebooks it’s made for. For example, if you put a Word notebook in, the cover flops over and seems ill fitted. Of course you can put more than one notebook in to make the cover more rigid, but it seems like the size could be just a bit smaller for these thin notebooks.

Another thing I don’t like about this notebook is that it has no closure. Sure, if you carry notebooks in your pocket, this probably isn’t an issue. But I don’t have pockets in most of my clothes, so this notebook is either in my purse, a backback, or in my hands. Because the leather is so soft, it can easily fold or open up in a bag. I much prefer having a means of closing it to keep cards, the pen, and the notebook protected. A basic snap closure might make this notebook a bit more secure.

I really like Galen leather products. They are made in Instanbul, Turkey. The notebooks are high quality and reasonably priced. They offer a variety of sizes, including Traveler’s Notebook, Moleskine, Leuchtturm1917, Field Notes, Hobonichi, Rhodia, and Baron Fig. Check them out at Galen Leather.

(Galen Leather provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

A. G. Spalding & Bros Notebook And Cover Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

The A. G. Spalding & Bros notebook and Notebook Colder are a new entry into the pocket notebook space that offers some good paper and a unique paper case compared to other similar products. The 3.5" x 5" format is a compact, easy-to-carry, and fun to use. It's a great product, but it could also be better.

Since we are talking about two separate products, let's start with the notebook cover. The cover comes in a dark brown that looks great. The elastic band that holds the cover shut is a bit loose if you're carrying only one notebook, but the cover was designed to hold two notebooks. I'd like the elastic to be tighter, but it's not that big of an issue.

The cover has one piece of branding on the front, which is a small A.G. Spalding & Bros embossed logo. It's small and tasteful. The inside of the cover has two flaps that hold the notebooks, and the covers are stitched around the edge of the cover to create pockets.

The elastic closure is attached in the middle of the back cover using a knot on the inside of the cover. In practice, this knot introduces two problems. One, it makes it difficult to slide a notebook into the right side pocket because the knot is obstructing most of the opening. It takes some effort to make it slide in properly, and you might end up bending the notebook in the process. The other major problem with this knot is that it creates a lump in the middle of the page when writing on the right side of the page. I found it pretty uncomfortable to use when on a flat surface.

Overall, the cover looks nice and is an affordable non-leather option for holding your notebooks. At just under twenty bucks, I can't say it's a good deal, however. It offers protection and a convenient way to carry two notebooks, but the knot in the back got in the way too often. Ultimately, I enjoyed the notebook more when the cover was removed.

Now, on to the notebook. The one I have is the graph variety, but you can also find them in lined and blank versions. The front outside cover contains some really nice branding along with an obvious "G, P, or R" to indicate the ruling type on the inside. It's a beautiful notebook on the inside and out. Apart from the front cover, there is no other branding on these books.

The paper is good quality, but not the best. It handles fountain pen and wet inks like a champ, but exhibits quite a bit of show-through on the reverse page. If you're using fountain pens, the back page might be unusable. Aside from that, the paper is really nice and is fun to write on. It's smooth, the ruling is light enough to stay out of your way, and it's thick enough to be durable against accidental rips and bends.

One minor gripe with the build quality of the notebook is that the binding stitching on my notebook has some loose threads. This makes me worry that it may begin to unravel at some point, but it's been stable so far.

Overall, it's a great notebook that works well with fountain pens as long as you don't mind the show-through. The pocket notebook market is vast, and you can probably find notebooks that are either more affordable, more durable, or more fountain-pen-friendly, so the major draw of this notebook for me is the design of the front cover. For me, I like using the notebook, but don't often use the cover. The cover looks nice, but detracts from the writing experience.

You can find the A.G. Spalding & Bros. notebooks from JetPens for around $7.00 in graph, lined, or blank varieties. The separate notebook cover is around $20, and only available in brown.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Midori Spiral Ring Notebook B7 Elephant Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

Midori always rocks the vintage minimal elegance. Those of us who like our analog tools to give us a sense of timeless utility are going to dig the Midori aesthetic. That being said, I think this little beauty is misnamed as a notebook. The Midori B7 Elephant is more of a sketchbook, I've found.

When I first opened this up and started playing with it, I really disliked it. The paper is very thick, like a hearty index card, but it doesn't take ink that well. There's quite a lot of feathering with fountain pens, and the paper is fibrous enough that fine-pointed gel and rollerballs feel snaggy. There are also only 20 sheets of paper. For me, that's a single-serving notebook. And when it comes to notebooks, I want the whole pie. Also true for actual pie.

What does work well in this wee book? Ballpoint pens were okay. Paint soaked into the paper fibers too much--even with paint liner pens. Pencils, colored pencils, and pastels worked the best. Suddenly, the 20 cardstock pages made much more sense--this is a sketchbook. And so the ugly duckling realized he was really a beautiful swan.

As a pocket sketchbook, it's pretty great. The cardboard cover is sturdy and folds over neatly or lays flat. The brass spiral coil is the most durable I've encountered and promises to hold up to some rough carry without getting smooshed and distorting the whole book. I do wish the sheets were perforated--the heavy paper and thick wire make page removal difficult and messy.

This particular model is the Elephant and has grey paper. A wee elephant is stamped into the corner of the cover. The Polar Bear has white paper and the Camel has brown. The books come in other sizes as well--B6, A5, and A6 in both horizontal and vertical binding orientations. This B7 is perfect for a back pocket or to slip into a day pack for an afternoon of sketching adventures.

I'm glad I kept playing beyond my initial impression of this book. But it does serve to illustrate how important a product's name is when it comes to customer expectations. I maintain that it's a dreadful notebook! A person who is new to the Midori brand who is looking for a notebook and who purchases this based on the Midori reputation may find themselves disappointed. I suspect wandering sketchers will find it to be a pocketful of joy.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, which I am very grateful for.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!