The Paper Mind
Passepied Cream Hardcover Notebook
Passepied Cream Hardcover Notebook
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Why it's special:
- Ultra-smooth fountain pen friendly paper
- Stitched lay-flat binding for comfort and durability
- Japanese linen hardcover for a premium feel
- Simple design for distraction free writing
The Passepied Hardcover notebook features the smoothest paper we have ever tested. Made by the hundred-year-old Hokuetsu-Kishu Paper Company, Passepied Cream was designed as a book paper with an extremely pleasant hand and a high opacity. This is special ultra-smooth paper is a delight to write on and is fantastic with most types of pens including fountain pens.
See our paper performance test
Detailed specs:
• 176 pages of 84.3 gsm Passepied Cream paper
• 7mm light gray rule or blank page styles
• Japanese linen hardcover with a French joint
• Stitched binding with 11 signatures
• Woven blue bookmark
• Pink blotter sheet
• Gray end papers
• A5 size: 148 mm x 210 mm, 5.83 x 8.27 in
• Made in Japan
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Everything, from the packaging to the final product is absolutely fantastic. Excellent paper and sublime construction of the notebook, this was a fantastic purchase. The only problem I have now is deciding which pen to use with it!
It reminds me of the old library books, with their fabric covers and traditional construction. The paper is very smooth and still keeps a very nice level of feedback, my writing is kept under control. Ink nuances show very nice, my favorite is Shikiori Souten, under the right light angle looks a little like OS Nitrogen, really nice. It opens flat, easy. The 7 mm ruling is better for wet nibs that make me write larger. Best notebook I have had. Keep it up Blake.
I am very happy with this product. The build quality is excellent. Starting with the binding, I can't say I've seen anything better. I can easily bend the covers backward to write and it hasn't had any issues. Additionally, the papers lay very flat which is wonderful. It can be very annoying to have to fight against your notebook while writing. The linen cover works fine, no complaints.
Moving on to the paper, I have to say this paper is by far my favorite. For reference, I've hundreds of dollars worth of notebooks; Rhodia, Clairefontaine, TomoeRiver, Mnemosyne, etc. The paper is a good thickness which I like coming in at 85gsm. I haven't noticed any bleeding whatsoever. It is a cream and not bright white.
The shading and sheening is phenomenal, I'd say Cosmo Air Light may be slightly better in that regard, but its difficult to say that for sure. The paper is very smooth when writing, not as much as with Clairefontaine or Rhodia. There is some noise feedback that is very pleasant, not at all scratchy. The ink stays put when I write and lines don't have that tendency to get thicker like they do with other papers
As far as things I'm unhappy about, there isn't anything. Its a specialty product and working in a manufacturing environment I'm aware of the costs associated in relatively small volume products. More page options would be nice, something like a seven milimeter grid would be great, but five would be nice too. More sheets would be great, getting 150-200 would be worth an additional premium (at least for myself).
Overall I'm very happy with my purchase and will be purchasing more once I run out. This is clearly a product made by someone who cared about what they were making and it shows.
I am thoroughly impressed with the quality of this notebook. The covers, the binding, and of course the paper itself are all perfect. I'm so glad I found Blake's YouTube channel and his store. I have spent so much money on inferior notebooks and now the search for my perfect notebook is over.
This is as close to notebook nirvana as I have come. The paper is what makes it. Smooth but not so coated as some others. No feathering/ bleed-through even with broad italic nibs. Soft on the eyes, well bound with a perfect hard cover. To top it all off a good value for the money. I have spent $200 + on a single notebook in the past. Never going to have to again. I just hope you keep them in stock.
Everything, from the packaging to the final product is absolutely fantastic. Excellent paper and sublime construction of the notebook, this was a fantastic purchase. The only problem I have now is deciding which pen to use with it!
It reminds me of the old library books, with their fabric covers and traditional construction. The paper is very smooth and still keeps a very nice level of feedback, my writing is kept under control. Ink nuances show very nice, my favorite is Shikiori Souten, under the right light angle looks a little like OS Nitrogen, really nice. It opens flat, easy. The 7 mm ruling is better for wet nibs that make me write larger. Best notebook I have had. Keep it up Blake.
I am very happy with this product. The build quality is excellent. Starting with the binding, I can't say I've seen anything better. I can easily bend the covers backward to write and it hasn't had any issues. Additionally, the papers lay very flat which is wonderful. It can be very annoying to have to fight against your notebook while writing. The linen cover works fine, no complaints.
Moving on to the paper, I have to say this paper is by far my favorite. For reference, I've hundreds of dollars worth of notebooks; Rhodia, Clairefontaine, TomoeRiver, Mnemosyne, etc. The paper is a good thickness which I like coming in at 85gsm. I haven't noticed any bleeding whatsoever. It is a cream and not bright white.
The shading and sheening is phenomenal, I'd say Cosmo Air Light may be slightly better in that regard, but its difficult to say that for sure. The paper is very smooth when writing, not as much as with Clairefontaine or Rhodia. There is some noise feedback that is very pleasant, not at all scratchy. The ink stays put when I write and lines don't have that tendency to get thicker like they do with other papers
As far as things I'm unhappy about, there isn't anything. Its a specialty product and working in a manufacturing environment I'm aware of the costs associated in relatively small volume products. More page options would be nice, something like a seven milimeter grid would be great, but five would be nice too. More sheets would be great, getting 150-200 would be worth an additional premium (at least for myself).
Overall I'm very happy with my purchase and will be purchasing more once I run out. This is clearly a product made by someone who cared about what they were making and it shows.
I am thoroughly impressed with the quality of this notebook. The covers, the binding, and of course the paper itself are all perfect. I'm so glad I found Blake's YouTube channel and his store. I have spent so much money on inferior notebooks and now the search for my perfect notebook is over.
This is as close to notebook nirvana as I have come. The paper is what makes it. Smooth but not so coated as some others. No feathering/ bleed-through even with broad italic nibs. Soft on the eyes, well bound with a perfect hard cover. To top it all off a good value for the money. I have spent $200 + on a single notebook in the past. Never going to have to again. I just hope you keep them in stock.