Discovering Antique Aide-Memoiré Notebooks

This little notebook crossed our path and of course we were instantly charmed. It is clearly old and contains the original paper pad with the original pencil. It turns out there is a name for such lovely little things–aide-memoiré. They were the Victorian and earlier version of the notes app on your iPhone, always handy when you need to jot something down on the go.

Per ThroughoutHistory.com, aides-memoirés were in use by both men and women in the 1700s and 1800s. They were carried in vest pockets and handbags or attached to watch chains or chatelaines. Early ones were thin sheets of ivory with a rivet that allowed the pages to fan out. A silver stylus was used to take notes, the pages were wiped clean at the end of the week. Sizes of aide-memoirés varied from as small as a matchbook to as large as a smart phone.

The Cleveland Museum of Art puts the early aides-memoirés in context from a modern perspective: “Luxurious personal objects were an essential part of a privileged wardrobe during the 1700s and early 1800s, emphasizing their owner’s refinement and wealth. Jewelry, miniatures, and writing tablets were often given as intimate gifts, intended to be seen and admired. Their glittering surfaces, however, disguised a system based on the labor and suffering of enslaved people and the decimation of elephant populations across Africa. Throughout the 1700s and 1800s, the ivory and slave trades were closely intertwined, as indigenous people and elephant tusks were transported and sold along the same routes.”

Although aides-memoirés may have been made with ivory sheets historically, the sale of ivory, even antique ivory, is prohibited in many countries and states. Another prohibited item, tortoise shell, was often used as the cover. Happily, later examples with a paper pad and metal covers are not under embargo. Here are a few examples of these functional little beauties…

Guy from ShopAntigo was kind enough to share this beauty he sold recently for £320.

“A pretty Edwardian sterling silver ‘aide memoir’ by the silversmith Harry Hayes, and hallmarked for the Birmingham assay office, dated 1903. The case is beautifully chased with foliate engraving to the front and back. The cartouche is initialed. The interior of the case is fitted with a leatherette interior, the twin compartments separated by an ivorine leaf. A silver propelling pencil is included. The aide memoir comes in its original fitted box which was retailed by David Macgregor & Co, jewellers, Perth.”

This beauty is currently in Guy’s shop. Notice the detailed repoussé work with the pine cones and branches. One can imagine a monogram on the raised center panel.

This little leather aide-memoiré in cheerful red reminds one of a person on the go who had people to see and was always punctual because they kept careful notes on where they had to be when. The seller sleuthed out that Henry Penny was located at 11, Old Bailey in London in the 1850s. One wonders if many were sold to barristers who passed by on their way to see clients.

Mauchline ware, about which an entire post could be written, is a wooden transferware made in Scotland from the mid-1800s to 1900. The sycamore wood items were sold as souvenirs and were mostly useful things like sewing aids, snuff boxes, letter openers and trinket boxes. The hand painted aide-memoiré is positively enchanting.

Were I to have an aide-memoiré, I would like to be able to wear it. This French piece comes with a loop on top so it could be attached to a chatelaine or watch chain, so it is ready to wear–gently, of course. (I can also imagine converting a small one into a lapel brooch.)

Read more

Marian Parsons, aka Miss Mustard Seed, writes about her quest for an aide-memoiré similar to Thomas Jefferson’s little notebook.

A brief history of Maunchline ware with examples.