The Allan's Journal

Last Friday, we talked about Bibles and notebooks -- and I promised to say more about the ultimate notebook, the Allan's Journal. Let's take a look ...

This is the Pocket Journal. It measures 5.75 by 4 inches, has 192 pages, and is bound in Morocco goatskin with a single ribbon marker and art-gilt page edges. A larger Standard Journal, which measures 7.75 x 5.0625 is also available.

It comes in a slipcase, too, which is nice. Right now, only the Standard Journal is listed at Bibles-Direct.com, where it sells for £10 -- about $20 in play money. The Personal Journal listed for £8, which works out to about $16. For some perspective, a large Moleskine journal, which measures 8.25 x 5.25 retails for $15, and last time I checked it was not bound in goatskin. Or slipcased. It probably can't do this, either:

Don't get me wrong, I love Moleskines, but one of the things I can't figure out is why I don't have more Allan's Journals. I ordered one and loved it -- but it was so nice I couldn't bring myself to write in it. (Which is good for you, since you get to see the pristine article.) This stockpiling instinct is a habit of mine. When Moleksines were re-introduced in 2001, I bought out every stock of them I could find, figuring something so good couldn't possibly stay on the market. I was wrong, but as a result I have a long-since-paid-for supply of notebooks. Still, I need some more Allan's Journals. They are splendid, just like the Bibles.

The pages are lined, and as I mentioned before, the edges have the red-gold art-gilt treatment familiar from Allan's Bibles. The quality is really impressive. Not long ago, I was at the bookstore looking for leather-bound journals with sewn bindings, since the Moleskine hardback isn't as flexible as I'd like for pocket carry. I had a hard time finding any -- most of the offerings seem to be glued, even when the covers are touted as quality Florentine leather. Then I remembered the Allan's Journal, quietly slipcased on my shelf. "What am I doing?" I said. I already had what I was looking for.

These journals even have head and tail bands like the Bibles. Not too shabby, huh? To give you a real-world idea of the Personal Journal's size, here it is with the Allan's Crystal KJV:

And here's another image, this time coupled with a red Moleskine journal, which measures 5.5 x 3.5:

Now I'm not saying we should trade in our Moleskines, but last Friday's post was about what journals go best with our Bibles, and it's hard to imagine a better match than an Allan's Bible with an Allan's Journal. The Standard Journal would be a great match with an Allan's ESV, for example. So next time you place an order with the the glorious ones in Glasgow, maybe you should include a journal or two. That's my plan.