The Moleskine is a kind of journal famously used by Bruce Chatwin throughout his career while traveling about, enamored with their small and easy to carry size as well as their imperviousness to accidental destruction. His supply of notebooks ran dry in 1986 when the French pulisher who made them closed shop.

However, 15 or more years later, the French publisher Modo and Modo picked up production of the line and began mass producing them world wide. They made further claims that Hemingway and Picasso used the little books fervently, though it’s not entirely known if they used Moleskines or some similar pocket notebook. It’s no matter though as the Moleskine notebook is an immensely popular pocket sized notebook perfect for carrying anywhere without it taking up too much space or succumbing to the elements.

The publisher, Modo and Modo was actually forced to sell the production of the notebooks to the French investment firm, Societe General because they were incapable of keeping up with the demand for their product.

Since the reintroduction of the notebooks in the last five years or so, there have been more than a dozen variations and sizes introduced. The basic notebook is a small, 3.6x5.5 in sized pocket notebook, bound in oilskin (moleskin) covered cardboard and containing 97 double sided sheets of paper and a small pouch on the back cover. There is a thin nylon bookmark and an elastic strap on the outside which keeps the notebook closed.

The finished product is a compact, sealable notebook which fits in most any pocket with ease. The variations include everything from diaries to date books, to composition sheets, and sketchbooks. There’s also the option of buying a larger 5.25 x 8.25 sized notebook for those without the need of hiding things in their pockets.

The popularity of the notebooks can be attributed to any number of thins, but one thing is certain – those that use the notebook claim it has some kind of special power over their writing, some hidden mojo that breathes through the pages and draws the writer into a society of those who use them. It might all be part of Modo and Modo’s marketing campaign, but there are very few notebooks out there that can claim to have a soul as the Moleskine does.

In 2007, Modo and Modo has announced a city specific line of Moleskine Notebooks to be released world wide featuring specific cities from Amsterdamn to Tokyo in which there will be maps and specially marked sections where the owner can create their own self-written guidebook to a city.