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Leuchtturm “Master Classic”: The Queen of Notebooks

Sometimes it has to be a little extra. This does also apply to stationary. Sometimes those wonderful A6 or A5 pocket-notebooks just won’t do. Sometimes you just need more. Sometimes it has to be nothing less than a genuine “Master Classic”-notebook 🙂 . Such as the one made by German notebook-manufacturer Leuchtturm 1917 – the German brand name translates to “lighthouse” in English.

And, just as a genuine lighthouse, it is next to impossible to overlook the “Master Classic” once you take it out and put it on your desk. I deliberately said desk, because that notebook really is no joke. Coming with a massive 2cm-spine and weighing in at 22.5cm x 31.5cm (the so called A4+-format) and 233 pages, the notebook is truly majestic and far from being “handy pocket size”. Which it also does not want to be. I assume that it just wants to live on a desk.

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Since it might be a bit difficult to actually imagine the sheer vastness of that notebook, I have put my Parker Urban Premium Rollerball on top of it as a reference – it almost disappears there, the poor thingy.

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The specifications of the notebook are as follows:

  • 233 numbered pages
  • blank table of contents
  • 8 perforated and detachable sheets
  • expandable pocket for A4 size stuff
  • page marker
  • elastic enclosure band
  • thread bound – so it opens flat on a surface
  • stickers for labelling and archiving
  • ink proof 100g/sqm (which is unusual for a notebook) acid free paper

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When you flip the notebook around (well, flip…turn it around with two hands I would rather say), you will find the brand label embossed on its lower end.

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Once you open the notebook, you will find a blank table of contents inside. I find this to be very practical, since it allows me to reference to and find some rather important notes that might otherwise be scattered across the whole notebook.

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You actually get several of those blank tables, giving you plenty of room to make your references.

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This is exactly where the numbered pages come in handy, since those will now easily allow you to specify the part of the notebook where a particular note is to be found.

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As you can see, the thread-binding is done very well. The notebook really does open super flat. The paper, when watched closely, has a very fine and subtle structure, giving it a notion of the high quality it definitely has. I really like writing on that paper.

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As said above, this notebook is surely no everyday-carry-around-thing. It is a great desktop notebook and I really love the sheer vastness of its blank pages, inviting me to outline, mind map, structure, table, brainstorm, and do anything else where I would just feel limited on anything smaller than A4. And remember, when you open that book you actually do have double-A4+-size – this is gigantic!

The notebook is equipped with two page-markers (one black and one black/greyish). I also like the properties of the notebooks cover, since it really ‘sticks’ on to the desk and does not slide around when you draw or write.

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Here is a view on the detachable sheets that are to be found at the very end of the book.

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Super practical is also the set of lined and squared paper that the notebook comes with. You might put either of those behind the page that you are currently writing on and the ruling will show through. That is, if you need some orientation in order not to get lost on those, again, endless blank pages.

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You will also find a set of stickers that you might wanna use when it comes to archiving the notebook once it is full.

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And, last but not least, the notebook has an expandable pocket at its backside, which – who would have guessed that – also is really huge.

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4 Comments

  1. Nathalie Nathalie

    Great review!! I’m looking at possibly getting one when I commence my Master degree.

    • Scrively Scrively

      Thank you, Nathalie! Sounds like a perfect match – a Master Classic notebook for a Master’s degree! Can’t go wrong with that one ;-).

  2. Kayleigh Kayleigh

    Hello

    I was wondering if you had a pen test picture ? I was wondering how much the pen ghosted and showed though and if there was any biro and rollerball comparisons ? Love this review, you clearly love a good notebook as much as I do!

    • Scrively Scrively

      I should have other Leuchtturm-notebook reviews that have such pictures. Just check in the notebook reviews section.

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