Plumbago Issue 5: The Collector's Edition

For issue five, we’re taking a step back from just stationery to look at another topic near and dear to our hearts — collecting and collections.

Collectors get a lot of flack around the stationery circles. “I’m a user, not a collector,” people say. But we all do it — we all buy that second pack of Field Notes to stash away, just in case it is worth something in a few years. We have many more bullet pencils than we’ll ever realistically use.

This issue celebrates those people. The ones who collect not just stationery items, but other interesting and strange analog things. Toasters. Stamps. Baseball cards. And sure, notebooks, pencils and pens.

This issue is full of fiction, essay, comics, illustrations and more, each contributor talking about their collections or how they collect. In this issue, you’ll find:

• A comic by Amy Noseworthy retelling the story of how she started collecting comics in her childhood.
• Gregory Dresser sharing stories about collecting autographs of Negro League baseball players
• Michael Harris, with a tale about the ghost of Rev. Francis Stainforth, who had the most comprehensive collection of the works of female poets of his time.
• Dan Lilie’s overview of the history of Schwinn bicycles and their collectability.
• And much, much more.

All this, wrapped in a cover beautifully drawn by Meredith Miotke, talented illustrator and Pencil Lady (of CW Pencils fame). It’s coming in two colorways (both pictured here) — we’ll pick which you get, but if you order an even number of issues, we’ll make sure you’re getting an equal number of colors.