Levenger Freeleaf Paper: A Brand That Started It All for Me

Back in the early 2000s, Levenger was one of the more readily available sources of quality, yet reasonably priced, stationery and desk/reading accessories, and I fondly recall spending hours browsing their original factory store when my parents lived near Delray Beach, Florida. (I would also visit the old Tysons Corner, Virginia location when I attended the D.C. Pen Show at the old Sheraton location.) The Levenger Circa disc binder system still plays a role in my personal carry, and I love that I can hole-punch any letter or A4-sized looseleaf paper and organize notes by sheet, much the same way as I have used William Hannah.

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Levenger paper is more absorbent, so it doesn’t show off sheen or shading as much as coated paper. It does, however, dry fairly quickly. I love these pads for notetaking in meetings, using the ruled areas to take actual notes and the shaded “annotation” section to summarize talking points and follow-up questions.

While Levenger has long advertised their paper as “ballpoint, rollerball, and fountain pen friendly”, I’ve found it to be somewhat inconsistent over the years. I suspect they’ve changed the sourcing more than a few times. In the early 2010s, I acquired a large batch of Circa notebook refills, Oasis desk pads, and annotation legal style pads which I would describe as “relatively” fountain pen friendly. The paper was certainly usable (especially for the price point), but it still suffered from some feathering and pinpoint bleedthrough with especially wet pens and nibs broader than a fine, and sometimes a medium. The current generation of Levenger paper, I’m happy to report, performs much better.

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The grey-shaded annotation pads feature a monthly/weekly date function that allows you to date your notes by circling a specific day or a range. The color shaded annotation pads do not feature the calendar.

I’m still working through that original giant bulk order, sp I’ve not had much of a chance to sample any of Levenger’s latest releases until recently, when I acquired a large batch of their “Freeleaf” notepads from an estate sale. I’ve been using them for about six months or so, and have been so pleased with the quality that I not only bought more but decided to bring them into the shop. To me, what makes Levenger products fun to use are their diverse array of layouts, ranging from their classic “annotation ruled” paper (a version of Cornell-style formatting) to this new “Vintage Library” pad that looks like a giant library card. The annotation pads are definitely the most fountain pen friendly of the bunch, and I’ve had no issues with this paper bleeding or feathering even with very wet nibs and grinds like architects and kodachi/blade grinds that can dig into the paper a bit. I hope Levenger keeps this source and begins to use this paper across their entire product line, because in addition to performing well with ink it has a pleasant texture and tactile feel when writing.

Ever wanted to write on a giant library card? Well, now you can live that dream.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

As a shop owner, I’m constantly paying attention not only the best-performing paper, but paper that performs well at a price point that’s accessible to those of us who use it every day and, as a result, burn through a lot of it. While all the specialty Japanese papers out there can be interesting to use and often perform superbly with fountain pens, they tend to be too pricey for me to use on more mundane office tasks where the paper often has to end up in the shredder. The Levenger “Freeleaf” legal pads handle fountain pen ink quite well, and can cost as little as $8 on a per-pad basis, making them a great office resource. I love that the pages are formatted on both sides to maximize usability and minimize waste.

We currently sell the Freeleaf pads individually and in a pack of five, in three different layouts. We also carry a curated selection of Levenger accessories, including some newly arrived leather pen cases and canvas stationery pouches. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve tried so far, and definitely plan on adding as much as Levenger will make available to independent retailers.

Thank you for reading! The Gentleman Stationer is supported by the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you’d like to visit our in-person location, you can view directions and up-to-date hours here.

Unpacking the Fountain Pen Friendly Paper Sampler: Why a Sampler, and Why These Specific Papers?

I mentioned last week that a frequent request I receive for the shop is the sampler pack, namely fountain pen friendly paper and woodcase pencils. It’s somewhat counterintuitive: what’s the rationale behind paying $10 for 15-20 sheets of paper when you can get a full 50-pad sheet for the same price? The answer is that the “value” is in the money you don’t need to spend, something that really hit home as I’ve spent the past two weeks cleaning out my day job office as I prepare to go fully remote. I have multiple bankers’ boxes full of paper and notebooks that I purchased simply to test the paper - money I likely would not have needed to spend had there been readily available ways to test some of these brands and formats via sampler packs and pads containing different brands.

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For further reading on Fountain Pen Friendly paper, check out this post, which I try to update fairly regularly and which has a lively comments section.

I still have a fair number of our Fountain Pen Day paper samplers - I ended up making more than my originally intended 15 - and I’ll continue to make them available for purchase online and in-store as long as my current supply of sampler paper holds out. After that, I will consider whether to re-up on the current sampler and/or expand what I offer. For today’s post, however, I thought it might be fun to talk a bit about each of the papers in the current fountain pen friendly paper sampler, how I personally have used it, and why I chose to include it in this initial pack. (Note: These papers are discussed in the order in which they appear in the sample pack, not any order of personal preference.)

• Write Notepads Paper. While there have been supply constraints recently (it’s a very small company), Write Notepads still makes some of my favorite cost-effective fountain pen friendly paper. It also comes in a wide variety of formats, from writing pads to hardcover notebooks to spiral and pocket notebooks. I know that many products are showing as out-of-stock, but they are on order. Fingers-crossed for a restock in the near future!

• Life Bank Paper. Life Bank Paper is a classic, “professional” paper that is one of my favorite off-white options. The A5 Bank Paper pad is a favorite of many for letter writing (this watermarked paper just looks classy) and it handles fountain pen ink extremely well with reasonable dry times.

• Life Noble Note. With a different (smoother?) feel than the Bank Paper, Life’s “Noble Note” paper is their standard workhorse offering. While excellent for fountain pens, I also find it pleasant to use with pencils.

• Rhodia. I included Rhodia mainly for comparison purposes. A sibling company of Clairefontaine, the papers are slightly different, with Rhodia - in my experience - slightly less fountain pen friendly but rather cost-effective if what you’re looking for is paper that performs well enough to be usable without breaking the bank.

• Clairefontaine Triomphe. Known for their bright white, extremely fountain pen friendly paper stock, Clairefontaine is probably my “inexpensive” paper of choice, if I had to name one. The Triomphe pads are marketed as suitable for correspondence, but they are also just as useful for general writing and notetaking. Clairefontaine recently released a series of softcover A5 notebooks using the Triomphe paper.

• Standard Clairefontaine Looseleaf and French-Ruled Looseleaf. Clairefontaine makes relatively inexpensive looseleaf paper, which is one thing I love about the brand, especially since it’s available in the Seyes/French-Ruled variant. This is the same paper used in the non-Triomphe notebooks and notepads, so you can use the looseleaf sheets in the sampler to see how this paper works for you.

• Life Airmail “Onionskin” Paper. While this paper may not appeal to everyone, I went ahead and included it in the paper sampler because its an interesting, non-mainstream paper option that has some historical significance. Onionskin paper was used to reduce postage rates for “airmail” being delivered long distances, and while no longer necessary, it’s a fun throwback, and it’s frankly kind of wild to see how well this ultra-thin paper handles fountain pen ink. (You’ll also note that the paper is back in stock - I found my stash of onionskin that had “disappeared” in the move.)

When you compare the various papers in the sampler, you will definitely find that some work better for you than others. However, some of them are more expensive than others, and you may have to pay for “peak” performance. As someone who has used a LOT of paper in their job over the years, I’ve personally focused on finding everyday paper that is good enough to handle the fine and medium fountain pens I use most of the time. For me, that’s typically some combination of Write Notepads, Clairefontaine, and Midori MD (which I may feature in another sampler later on). While I may not get to it in 2024, given that the holidays are already upon us and I’m barely keeping it together as it is, I would love to continue to offer this and other samplers going forward.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. We recently opened a physical location, where we can see customers a few days a week and where you can test many of the papers discussed here in person. See the “About” page for updated hours, which are subject to change.

Paper Review: Midori MD Fountain Pen Friendly Sticky Notes and Notepads

I went shopping in my own store yesterday - I know, typically a bad business decision - but since I’ve moved TGS out of my home office to its own commercial space I’ve had to rebuild my home office a bit to make it more suitable for it’s original purpose: reading, home-based projects, and personal writing. Yesterday morning I sat down to plan out my personal finances and errands for the week and realized that I didn’t have any decent sticky notes or even a tear-off notepad at my desk. This presented the perfect opportunity to test out two very popular items from our shop: the Midori MD Memo Block Notepad and the MD A7 Sticky Notepad, which I’d not used extensively myself.

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The 500-sheet block notepad contains excellent paper. The thick 4"x4" pad is large enough to rest your hand on while writing on the top half of the sticky note, but most people will likely tear off the sheet to comfortably use the entire page.

Of these two products, the MD Memo Block Notepad is my favorite. I enjoy having a ready supply of tear-off paper that’s not too expensive, and I basically use these as scratch sheets. This large notepad contains 500 sheets of Midori MD Paper (the same as in the standard MD Notebooks), which measure 4” x 4” square and handle fountain pen ink extremely well. I’ve noticed no difference in performance between this notepad and any standard Midori MD paper product. The pad itself is glue-bound along the top edge and does not feature any “sticky” backing on the sheets themselves - these aren’t sticky notes, and if you want to attach the notes to anything, you’ll have to use glue, tape, staples, or a clip. You can also do as I sometimes do, and punch three holes in smaller sheets of paper and stick them in an A5 or Bible-sized Plotter.

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One ink (TGS x Hinze Summer Sangria) feathered a little on the sticky note but not on the memo pad. It was worse at the top of the sticky note (where the adhesive likely mixed with the paper).

The Midori MD A7 Sticky Notepad is also a good product, especially when you consider that fountain pen friendly sticky notes are extremely difficult to find. While these are labeled “MD Paper”, this particular product feels slightly different than the Midori MD pads and notebooks. The paper is thinner, and doesn’t handle ink quite as well as the Memo Block, though it still performs nicely for a sticky note. Sticky notes are difficult to use with fountain pens for a couple of reasons. First of all, the paper can’t be too heavy, or else the adhesive won’t be able to support the weight of the note. Second, sticky note adhesive has a tendency to affect how ink behaves on the paper. If you’ve ever written on the top part of a sticky note and had it feather like crazy, only to have the bottom half behave differently, you know exactly what I’m talking about. While I’ve experienced a bit of feathering on these sticky notes with certain inks, they’re generally quite good (certainly better than other alternatives I’ve tried) and on par with the apparently discontinued Traveler’s Company sticky notes.

The adhesive on these notes performs well. I had no trouble sticking it to a whiteboard, and these adhere just fine to notebooks and other sheets of paper - which is how I generally use stickies.

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The Midori MD Sticky Notes (left) and MD Memo Block Paper. The sticky notes had a touch of pinpoint bleedthrough, but then again, who writes on the back of a sticky note?

Takeaways and Where to Buy

As always, Midori comes through with a high quality and generally fountain pen friendly product. While the paper in the MD Memo Block notepad performed better than the paper in the sticky notes, I suspect that’s due mostly to the adhesive on the back of the sticky note paper reacting to a very wet fountain pen ink. In any event, I don’t really demand top-notch performance from sticky notes, and these certainly fall into the “good enough and better than nearly everything else I’ve tried” category. The sticky notes will go into one of my Sinclair pen cases so that I have them available wherever I happen to be working, and the MD Memo Block will stay on my desk at home.

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We’ve carried these in the shop for a long time - I’ve just never gotten around to using them seriously until this week. The MD Memo Block comes in three formats (grid, blank, and lined) and is priced at $12 for a 500-sheet pad. The A7 Sticky Note Memo pads run $11.50 each and come in five different formats (lined, blank, grid, dot, and framed). You can check out these and other Midori products by visiting the paper section of our store. Also, if you’re aware of any other fountain pen friendly sticky notes out there, let me know as this is a product category I’m interested in!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

Notebook Review: ProFolio Oasis Notebook

ProFolio Oasis notebooks landed on my radar at the first San Francisco Pen Show that I attended, where I had a chance to browse the Sailor/Itoya table. As a huge fan of multi-lined rulings such as Clairefontaine French/Seyes ruling and the Nakabayashi “Logical” lined rulings, I immediately jumped at the ProFolio layout, which distributor/manufacturer Itoya describes as a combination of “dots, graph, and lines.”

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The ProFolio Oasis multi-lined layout.

Itoya highlights versatility as the main selling point of this notebook:

“The Profolio Oasis Notebook was designed to make the hard choice of “which journal” much easier. While many people have a hard time choosing between dot grid, graph, or lined, the Oasis Journal combines the best of all three with its new proprietary paper pattern. The combination of dots, grids, and lines as well as their light application makes this notebook ideal for handwriting, bullet journaling, and even drawing straight lines without the necessity of a ruler.”

— Itoya Marketing Copy

I promise current and former co-workers who may be reading this that the meeting reflected in these notes is entirely fictional.

Personally, I use rulings such as this one to alternate the size of my script, which allows me to take different types of notes and make annotations all over the page. If I need to emphasize a certain note, I’ll use larger letters, and if I want to add annotations I’ll not only write smaller but will use the interior dotted lines instead of the wider, bold ruling. Each page of the notebook features a header section, so that you can date and label as necessary. Some of you may find the header section useful for summarizing meetings or key takeaways from a page of notes.

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The paper is excellent. The current version of the ProFolio notebook features lightweight 75gsm Japanese paper that handles fountain pen ink quite well. If you enjoy the look of Clairefontaine French-ruled paper, yet find Clairefontaine too slick, the ProFolio paper has a softer texture more akin to Nakabayashi. (It might even be the same paper used in the Logical line, though that is pure speculation and there are slight differences in layout, particularly the header.) I picked an A5 version in “Brick Red” to test, and so far this paper has performed quite well with every fountain pen ink I’ve tried. Other available sizes include A6 and B5.

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Takeaways and Where to Buy

The Itoya ProFolio Oasis series gets the T.G.S. stamp of approval. In addition to featuring quality paper with a versatile ruling/layout, ProFolio earns bonus points for multiple convenient sizes and a lie-flat binding. These Oasis notebooks are now available in our own shop and priced from $9.99 to $15.99, depending on size. As noted above, these come in A6, A5, and the coveted B5, which sits between A5 and A4. There are also five different colors. I didn’t realize the extent to which people appreciated this B5 size until I started carrying Nakabayashi and ProFolio, and I’ll try to find more in the future.

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In recent years there has been a proliferation of notebooks marketed as “fountain pen friendly”, and not all of them live up to their billing. Given the current demand for good paper, I make it a point to test as many notebooks as I can because I know that eventually I’ll get questions on brands that are receiving a lot of attention on social media. If you’d like to read more on what I consider to be fountain pen friendly paper and specific brands you might want to try, I recently updated the “Hierarchies of Fountain Pen Friendly Paper” site resource.

This post does not contain third-party advertising or affiliate links. The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

The Best Paper for Everyday Writing, Part VI: Legal Pads

While I had originally envisioned “The Best Paper for Everyday Writing” as a five-part series, based on reader questions, I thought it made sense to expand it to include a stand-alone article on “Legal Pads”. I’ve placed the term in quotation marks because it’s regularly used to describe several very different types of stationery, ranging from the traditional 8.5” by 14” U.S. “legal-sized” pad of paper to any writing pad that is glue-bound on top and features detachable perforated sheets. I use the broader definition, since in my experience as an attorney fewer and fewer people are using actual legal-sized paper each year, and most of the legal pads I see in everyday practice now feature either letter (8.5” x 11”) or A4 (8.3” x 11.7”) sizing.

The main question I get from readers is very straightforward: What is the best fountain pen friendly legal pad available today? The answer, however, is NOT so obvious, because people prioritize different things. For example, many office workers will churn through a lot of legal pads (think three or four per week), so they look for the least expensive option with acceptable fountain pen performance. I don’t go through as many pads as I used to, so I no longer take this approach myself. Therefore, I’m not up to date on which Amazon or eBay brand of inexpensive legal pad is currently using decent paper - batch performance tends to change from year to year or even month to month. I tend to stick with slightly more expensive paper that delivers consistent performance with fountain pens, rollerballs, and fineliners, and that is how I’ll approach this post.

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In my mind, a classic “legal pad” has to allow you to easily fold sheets over the top, and feature a backing board sturdy enough to permit notetaking while standing up. In order to write on both sides of the page, you will have to tear the page out (hence, perforations).

My Favorite Fountain Pen Friendly Legal Pads

1. Clairefontaine “Pupitre” Writing Tablets. My long-time favorite for a legal-style writing pad remains the classic Clairefontaine “Pupitre” series. Available in A4 and A5 sizes, this durable writing pad is both glue and staple-bound across the top, and features a wrap-around cover in addition to a thick chipboard back for maximum durability and ease of use while standing. The combination of paper quality and high-end construction has kept this pad at the top of my list for many years, and I can’t recall a time when I didn’t have at least three of these in my office desk.

2. Rhodia A4 Dot Pads. The reliable Rhodia Pad can be found pretty much anywhere these days, including in big-box art supply and craft stores, so they get extra points for availability when you may not have a brick-and-mortar pen store nearby and need quality paper quickly. Also, when I’m looking for dot grid paper, which can easily be turned sideways to use in a “landscape” orientation, Rhodia is my go-to. Of course, Rhodia pads are available in other rulings and a wide range of sizes. I place them at No. 2 on this list, essentially tied with Maruman Mnemosyne, for the same reasons discussed below.

3. Maruman Mnemosyne A4 Pads. Basically, Maruman Mnemosyne pads tie with Rhodia after Clairefontaine in my book, with Clairefontaine given the edge due to the slightly sturdier build. Rhodia edges out Mnemosyne based on availability. That said, Mnemosyne paper is excellent quality, and if you enjoy having a dedicated space for a header at the top of the page, their layout makes it very easy to organize your notes. Maruman also makes a range of portfolios/padholders across a range of price points, including both PVC and vegan leather options.

4. Write Notepads Memo Pads. Featuring excellent paper and versatile layouts that include a “Meeting” format, these memo pads are sold in packs of two and therefore also offer good value. While the Write Memo Pads have a backing board, they don’t have a cover like the first three pads on this list, so they’re not quite as durable for portable use, but I’ve absolutely used them in a portfolio. Note that these are letter-sized (8.5” x 11”) and not A4.

5. Plotter A4 Pads. DesignPhil’s proprietary paper is exceptionally fountain pen friendly, but the A4 writing pad itself is (1) tailored toward users of the Plotter system, and (2) suffers from durability issues that will keep most people from using this as an everyday legal pad. You can use the Plotter A4 pads in either traditional “portrait” or “landscape” mode (i.e., horizontally or vertically), and the paper comes hole-punched for an A5 Plotter binder along the top edge. Because A5 is exactly half the size of A4, you can simply fold the sheet in half (or do a tri-fold) to carry with you in your binder. As a fairly heavy Plotter user, I’ve been experimenting with one of these pads in my A4 Roterfaden, and the primary drawback is that the pad doesn’t have a sturdy backing board or binding and falls apart fairly easily. This product appears to be designed primarily with desk use in mind, where you tear the sheets out one by one as you use them.

Honorable Mention: Midori MD and MD Cotton Writing Pads

Intended more as a desk pad than a traditional legal pad, the Midori MD and MD Cotton pads are glue bound on two sides (crosswise and lengthwise), which ensures the paper lies flat and prevents “curling” of pages as you get to the end of a pad. I include these as honorable mention because, while you can’t use them easily in a portfolio or padholder without breaking the binding, they are excellent pads of paper and can absolutely be used to take legal pad-style notes as necessary.

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Thick backing boards on the Clairefontaine Pupitre (top), the Write Notepads Memo Pad (middle), and Maruman Mnemosyne (bottom).

Further Reading

To catch up on the rest of the “Best Paper for Everyday Writing” series, check out our “Best Paper” Resource Page. I may need to do yet another post in the series in response to several reader requests for recommendations on pads for letter writing and written correspondence, which is an entirely different category (though again there may be some overlap). Stay tuned!

The Gentleman Stationer is supported entirely by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. This post does not contain third-party advertising or affiliate links.