Importantly, these books were written in the vernacular, meaning that they were for everyday use and not intended as formal documents (which would have been in Latin). Zibaldone Da Canal, Venice 1312 (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University) An early example is the Zibaldone da Canal, dating to 1312. Zibaldone (singular) means “heap of things” and indicates that these books were used as receptacles for any and all information and reminiscences that the author wanted to keep track of. They recorded their trading activities, but also notable events and experiences, in their zibaldoni (zee-bal-done-ee).
The genre really came into its own in the thirteenth century, when Venetian merchants started keeping notebooks with them on their travels and at home. These ancient practices led, eventually to the Italian zibaldone, which were the basis for commonplace books and later, bullet journals. From the third century, the Chinese kept biji, which were similarly collections of notes. Emperor Marcus Aurelius himself kept one, and it became his Meditations. Romans kept notes of ideas, maxims, quotations and so forth, and called these collections locus communis. A little bit of research reveals that there are some fascinating predecessors to the bullet journal, reaching as at least as far back as ancient Rome. In my other life, I’m a historian, and so it won’t surprise anyone to hear that I tend to think about things in historical terms. However, as I adapt my own bujo system, I find myself thinking of it in different terms. If the inventor welcomes lots of variations, then Sue on that bujo Facebook group you joined doesn’t get to say otherwise. The hundreds of beautifully decorated pages on #bulletjournal. I’ve said before, and I still agree, that it’s a bullet journal if you say it is, and it doesn’t have to fit someone else’s predefined idea. The new year encourages many people to turn over a new leaf, and for many this means getting organised. The explosion of interest in bullet journals which I’ve spoken about before, shows no sign of slowing in 2017. Bullet journals, zibaldoni, and commonplace books
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