Commonplace Book Research

Prompt 1:

Commonplace book

We found that the commonplace books from 1751-1800 were extremely varied in their subject matter. It seemed as though it was seen as a point of pride when people were able to compile these books and be able to speak on, read, and enjoy a wide variety of topics. Some were interactive, where readers were intended to have a sort of conversation over distance and time with the person who compiled the book originally. The subjects seem to track a bit like the almanacs, where each commonplace book has a core theme like science or history, and is scattered throughout with other topics like poetry or riddles or analysis of human behavior.

Prompt 2:

Book located, but not useful in the context of the class. Lots of philosophy, not enough commonplace.