Epica Journal and Fountain Pens

June 25, 2024

I've been considering one of these journals for years, and I've searched to find reports of how exactly "suitable" the paper is for use with fountain pens. I finally pulled the trigger on the 8" x 10" journal with 95 gsm Cordenon's paper with hand cut deckled edges, and I figured I'd drop a review here for others searching for details of behavior with fountain pens.

The short answer is, it's great. You'll like it.

The details:
I've attached several pictures so you can see for yourself. (Forgive my handwriting, I'm always in too much of a hurry to prettify it. Someday haha.). The first entry was written with Levenger Raven Black ink in a Waterman Le Mans 100 Opera with a fine nib. The second entry (which continues onto the back of that page so you can judge ghosting for yourself) was written with the same pen, with De Atrementis document black. In both cases, there was no feathering, and only barely visible ghosting that does not come close to affecting your ability to read or write on the back of the page. This nib is finer than a lot of fines, and was nice and smooth on this paper, with just some pleasant feedback, no scratchiness.

Signatures were with Iroshizuko Tsuki-Yo in a 1.1 stub nib Twisbi. This is a dark, wet, ink; and that nib puts an awful lot of it on paper. You can see still there's no feathering and hardly any ghosting, nothing disruptive.

Overall, I'm super pleased. Beautiful book, beautiful paper!