Maruman Mnemosyne Inspiration Pad review

The Maruman Mnemosyne Inspiration Pad has 70 sheets of bright white paper. It’s available plain or with a dot grid and in sizes from A7 up to A4. This is the A5 version.

The pad is meant to be used in landscape format but there’s no reason you have to, of course. There is a margin along the top (if you’re using it landscape) that says ‘Title/No.’. Just above this there are extremely easy to use perforations and then the ring binding.

The quality of the notebook as a whole is excellent. The front cover looks classy, there’s a spiffing inner front cover and there’s a sturdy cardbook backing that makes it possible to use the pad on your lap.

The paper is beautiful. It’s crisp and bright and smooth. Very fountain pen friendly. It is better than Rhodia paper. It is! I love it.

Most recent ink reviews have been done in this pad. There’s no feathering and only the very wettest inks in the very wettest pens show or bleed through. (In fact in normal use I doubt it would be a problem.)

Rhodia notepads are wonderful but the Maruman Mnemosyne Inspiration Pad ever so slightly beats it in every respect. The perforations tear a little more easily. The cover is a little better. (Okay, the cover is a lot better.) The paper is a little better. However: it is an awful lot more expensive. For me, Rhodia is at a price where I can comfortably use it day to day, for everyday things: work, letters, scribbling notes to myself or others. The Mnemosyne is beautiful, and I will get myself another one once it’s finished, but it’s too expensive to use without a special purpose in mind.

Thank you to The Journal Shop for sending me this notepad to review and keep. I’ve tried not to let their generosity influence my review. If you’d like to buy this directly from the Journal Shop you can find it here.