Moleskine Goes Peanuts to mark strip's 60th anniversary

Here's one for fans of Charles Schulz ace comic strip creation, Peanuts, which has appeared in many British newspapers down the years, along with many collections - most recently, The Complete Peanuts series published by Canongate Books. Moleskine, makers of the legendary notebook used by some of the world's most celebrated artists and writers, has just launched new limited edition notebooks to commemorate one of the 20th century's most widely adored artists and help mark the 60th Anniversary of the strip's launch.

Sounds like a nifty Christmas gift for fans of Snoopy and company to me.

Schulz's Peanuts gang are some of the most well-known and internationally popular characters ever drawn - the comic strip now appears in over 2,200 newspapers, in 75 countries and 21 languages. Featuring exclusive cover art, interior art and packaging, these Peanuts Notebooks are available in a variety of sizes and rule types to accommodate every Moleskine and Schulz devotee, aiming to represent some of the best-loved characters particular point of view and their continuous banter and self-expression with the black and white colour scheme reminiscent of the daily comic strips found in newspapers and bookstores all over the world.

Moleskine say the strong personalities which define the Peanuts gang are given top billing on the covers of the large notebooks, which feature upclose shots of Snoopy and Charlie Brown on the paper bands and a side profile embossed in white on the notebook itself.

The inside cover of each notebook features inspiring quotes from favourite characters. In an extra special touch, the iconic Moleskine "In case of loss" section has been customised as Snoopy's house, with the text presented in Schulz's recognisable writing. The back of the notebooks feature a Peanuts family tree and the story of Moleskine and a set of special Peanuts stickers (which incorporate the classic Peanuts "thought bubble") are inserted in the expandable pocket.

All the Limited Edition notebooks are embossed with Peanuts 60th Anniversary, making a must-have collector's item for the many Schulz and Moleskine fans.


Moleskine-style notebooks (which are not made from moleskin, in case you were wondering) are, apparently, almost as collectable as comics for some. They were apparently the favoured choice for note keeping for a diversity of creators for over 200 years and the modern Moleskin notebooks are produced by a  small Milanese publisher who brought the legendary notebook back to life in 1997, describing them as the successor to notebooks used by artists and thinkers such as Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway.

Novelist Bruce Chatwin is credited with naming the little black notebooks 'moleskine" in the 1980s, going out of his way to buy what was then a very scarce item after the manufacturer, a small family-owned company in the French city of Tours, went out of business.

• Check out the new Peanuts books on Moleskine's dedicated Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/moleskine


• Moleskine is at: www.moleskine.co.uk