P.S. Emerson's Tips for Finding Notes

“Among the seven ages of human life…the period of indexes should not be forgotten”

When I announced the Commonplace Book Club (CBC), several readers remarked that while they collect quotes, they have trouble finding them. This is, unsurprisingly, the perennial note-taker dilemma.

I promised a reply to this query. At the time, I was thinking of Emerson, who offers a perfect example of how we can both collect many quotes and also locate them.

Here is how Emerson would answer the question: to find what is in one’s notebooks, one must be in constant contact with them—regularly re-reading and indexing entries. This takes time and dedication. Then again, isn’t this true of most worthwhile pursuits?

Emerson amassed a staggering amount of information in his notebooks. Early on, he adopted Locke’s indexing system, but he quickly abandoned it in favor of a simpler, chronological index at the back of his notebooks. Then, as his notes accumulated, he embarked on an astoundingly extensive indexing system. Ultimately, Emerson’s indexes are a thing to behold—notebooks full of references to other notebooks, including the 400 page “Index Major.”

As with everything else in life, note-taking has its seasons. The notes Emerson took as a college student necessarily differ from the notes he took while developing his wildly popular lectures.

In the Spring of 1847, Emerson declared that

Among the seven ages of human life…the period of indexes should not be forgotten.¹

Let us join Emerson in this stage of his note-taking life—the indexing stage, in which he combs through his bounty of notes while writing his iconic lectures.