Maruman Mnemosyne Journal A6 Slim Notebook Review

The paper in Maruman notebooks and notepads is some of the best in the business, and over the past few years, they have expanded their traditional spiral-bound options into hardbound formats. I’ve been a little slow in reviewing any of their Maruman Mnemosyne Journal offerings, but that changes today with the A6 Slim Notebook.

Pilot FriXion for scale.

For starters, this notebook is an amazing object. I purposefully bought the small size to test, and it feels great in the hand, and even better when using it. There are some issues with the smaller size you might need to work around, such as finding a comfortable writing position with a 5.7 inch x 3.7 inch, 160 page notebook, but simply as a product it is fantastic.

The are tons of markings around the edges of the page it you want to break down your layout even further.

If you are familiar with Maruman’s paper performance, then you will be very happy with what’s contained within these covers. At 90 gsm, it’s a slightly thicker page than what is used in the 70 gsm Spiral Note Basic, and the 80 gsm Mnemosyne Spiral lineup, but the feel and performance is generally the same. It handles every type of ink well, including fountain pen ink. The lines are clean, and the white page shows off color and shading nicely.

Great performance from the Fine Steel Pilot Explorer Nib (left side.)

The only thing I wouldn’t use this notebook for is heavy ink swatching. My swatch didn’t bleed through to the next page, but the paper absorbed a lot of the ink, as opposed to the ink sitting on top of the page to dry. I’ve never had an issue when writing with a fountain pen nib, but dumping ink on the page isn’t the play.

The color is great, but the page is too absorbent for heavy swatches.

None of the ink on the left transferred to the page behind it, which is nice.

Feel wise, I do find it a little dry when writing, which may be the lack of sizing or coating on the page. This may show up more in the finer fountain pen nibs I use, but honestly, it’s not much of an issue, more of a preference. This paper feel also means it’s nice for standard pens like gel, ballpoint, and especially rollerball. This is one of the papers where I see little to no ghosting from the Schmidt P8127 Rollerball refill, which is impressive, and may differentiate this notebook for some.

Quality performance for every ink and graphite.

While the format and performance are nearly perfect, the cost of the A6 Slim will play a big role in whether this notebook is for you. At $25, this is well into the premium category, and I’d argue a bit too much for this size. The full A5 variety is $36, and while expensive in its own right, makes a bit more sense as a purchase.

Sharpie lol.

The Maruman Mnemosyne Journal A6 Slim Notebook does fulfill a need as a portable, durable, and quality notebook, so give it a look if it meets your specifics. Anyone would be happy with how it performs, but not everyone needs it in their writing arsenal.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Kleid x Maruman Mnemosyne B6 Memo Pad Review

I love a good stationery collaboration, and given my long-standing love of Maruman paper, I was excited to see what Kleid could bring to the table in their recent collaboration series.

The Kleid x Maruman Mnemosyne notebook series features several different sizes and shapes, ranging from the large A4 Landscape edition, all the way down to the pocketable Modified B7 design. My selection was one off from the smallest with the B6 Top-Bound Memo Pad - a perfect desk companion.

What else does this Kleid series of Mauruman notebooks feature over the standard Maruman lineup? An Olive cover, 2 mm grid spacing, and a several dollar premium for the privilege of using those first two features. This is the price we often pay for collaborations. Depending on your needs and likes, the product could be perfect and worth the extra few bucks, or none of it could be additive to your experience and the classic stock version is the best version.

Performance wise, this notebook meets my already high Maruman expectations. The paper is some of the best for all types of pens and inks, handling most everything I threw at it well. The only outlier was Waterman Radiant Pink, which is an older ink I often have problems with. It seems to be overly watery, which will go through many different types of paper, this one included. Otherwise, everything else was as expected. Heavy rollerball ink, like in the Schmidt P8127 did ghost, and of course the Sharpie flew right through the page.

If there is any downside to the paper it is that there isn’t much tooth for graphite to grab on too. If you like a more tactile pencil feel, Maruman paper would not be my choice.

Aside from my enjoyment of the paper on the inside, Maruman constructs some of the world’s best wire-bound notebooks. They charge a premium for even the standard models, but you get a premium experience. The wire binding is strong and durable, the covers are sturdy while having some flex, the perf is clean, and overall these notebooks are perfectly executed. While mostly known for this style, they have recently begun making hardbound journals, if that is more to your liking.

0.5 mm pencil, left, staying within the 2 mm. 0.5 mm uniball Zento using 4 mm grid spacing.

Outside of the price, I think the 2 mm grid is the biggest hangup with the Kleid collaboration. That’s Kleid’s thing, and it isn’t for everyone. It’s not even for me most of the time, as I prefer a 4 mm to 5 mm grid spacing. The tiny grid causes me to lose my place more, which in turn makes me have to think about the lines more. I don’t want to think, just write. Larger handwriting works better, using two or three lines at a time, for a more traditional 4 mm or 6 mm spacing.

LAMY Safari EF, LAMY Safari Blue ink, trying to stay on 6 mm spacing. There were a few failures.

In the end, as beautiful as I find the Kleid x Maruman Mnemosyne notebook series to be, I don’t think they are worth the premium. The B6 model I’m using is $10, and a standard lined B6 is $8.20 at JetPens. While most of these formats aren’t a 1:1 match, something like the more traditional Maruman Mnemosyne A5 Dot Grid is only $11.25, which is a far better bang for your buck versus the A5 Kleid collaboration, which runs $16.

Unless you are an Olive superfan (I know you are out there,) have to have 2 mm grid spacing, or are a Japanese stationery junkie (raises hand,) I’d stick with the standards when it comes to the Maruman Mnemosyne.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Maruman A5 150-Sheet Spiral Notebook Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

There's always room in my stationery stash for another basic, utilitarian notebook — especially when it has a large number of pages.

The Maruman A5 Spiral Note is a 150-sheet (300-page) thick notebook that uses the great paper that Maruman is known for. While I call this "basic," I only mean that in a positive way. Yes, the design is basic and minimal, but the quality is there where it counts. There's not much branding or fluff — just lots of pages.

On the outside, the covers of this notebook are thick craft cardstock that should provide plenty of protection against minor scuffs, but it won't hold up to moisture very well. The covers are plenty to protect the pages from other things inside a bag. Outside of the print on the front cover, there is zero marketing or printing on the inside or back covers. Inside, the first non-page is the only marketing material you'll find, and it's easy to remove if you don't want it.

The paper is the same as other paper I've used in Maruman notebooks. The 80 gsm paper has a 6.5mm ruled line, and there space at the top for a subject, topic, date, or other metadata that you can use or ignore. The pages are all perforated, making it easy to rip individual sheets out. The outer corners of the pages are also rounded off, so they won't easily get caught on things in your bag.

In my testing, all types of ink and graphite work well on this paper. It's mostly smooth with a little bit of feedback. It definitely feels like there's a coating on the paper, but it's light and doesn't keep ink from drying quickly. It's not the same paper that Maruman uses in their Mnemosyne line, but it's still a great paper that performs well.

The binding on this notebook is a stout wire spiral that has a brass finish. I don't think it's real brass, but the color/finish matches the craft aesthetic of the covers. The thick wire will bend if enough force or weight is applied, but it's sturdy enough to be resilient against the typical forces inside a crowded bag.

This is a fantastic line of notebooks from Maruman. I love their sleek black notebooks, but I've always got room for the craft paper style that these notebooks pull off so well. While you can choose from lined or dot grid in some of the notebooks, the large capacity 150-sheet versions only come in lined rule. And, they even come in A4 and B5 sizes too.

At $8.50 for this notebook, it's an incredible value. You get a lot of great paper for this price, and that makes it easy to recommend. This is great if you want a lot of capacity for a single purpose or just something that will last a long time provided you take care of the covers. The Maruman Spiral Note is now one of my top recommendations for no-frills, great quality notebooks available in A5, A4, and B5 sizes.

(Vanness Pens provided this product at a discount to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Enjoy reading The Pen Addict? Then consider becoming a member to receive additional weekly content, giveaways, and discounts in The Pen Addict shop. Plus, you support me and the site directly, for which I am very grateful.

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!