Letters, Letter-writing and
Other Intimate Discourse
Copyright © Wendy Russ

Topical Index


Bibliography and Bookstore
I also maintain a list of books related to letters and letter-writing. The list is fairly detailed with current books and out-of-print books. The ones with live links are available for purchase through Amazon.

 

General Letter Writing

No links yet.  

Collections

Einstein's Letters to Franklin D. Roosevelt
A series of four letters Einstein sent to Roosevelt, detailing his concerns for the construction of the new atomic bombs.

Henry James' Letters and Correspondents
Henry James was a prolific letter writer with over 1,000 recorded correspondents. The University of Nebraska has created a web-accessible database which tracks his letters, where they are held as well as information about his many correspondents.

Letters of Jane Austen
An online collection of the letters of Jane Austen.

Old British Letters
A collection of British Letters ranging from 1717 to 1859.

Private Art
A collection of World War II letters to and from the homefront.

Robin Flies Again
The women of the Class of 1903, Goucher College, participated in a round robin of letter writing that lasted almost 50 years. The college has a web site devoted to this collection of letters.

Three Girls Grown Up
An ongoing collection of letters between three women who have been friends since college. Funny, sad, painful, insightful, joyous. It begins with some past reminisces from college and moves on into the present. A work in progress!

Wolf Lewkowicz Collection
A collection of letters written between 1922 and 1939, and translated into English from Yiddish.

 

Letter Projects

The Epistolary (Letter) Project
Heather Piper obtains letters that are being sold on eBay, in antique shops and in other venues and attempts to reunite them with their previous owners. A fascinating and worthy cause!

The Dead Letter Office
What would you say if you were dead? Imagine your life is over and you have one more chance to say something to the world. This is your place to do it. Check it out for sad, witty, wise, wonderful letters from people you will never meet.

The Legacy Project
The Legacy Project's mission is to honor American military veterans and soldiers by preserving their wartime letters. Their web site includes information on how to preserve letters and has links to actual letters from wartime.

Letter A Day
Rich is writing one letter each day and waiting for responses. He posts the outgoing and incoming letters on this web site. It's good for a daily dose of letter writing!

300 Love Letters
A fun and interesting project created by a woman named Asia. She has written letter after letter to people and mailed them to complete strangers. While I think this is completely and utterly weird and strange, I also really love it.

Love Letter Collection
An ongoing collection of love letters. Add your own!

Open Letters
This is perfect if you don't have a lot of time to get your voyeuristic letter-writing fix. (It's actually perfect in a lot of other ways, but I'm trying to appeal to the hurry-up-i'm-busy-give-me-something-right-now-right- in-the-vein-right-here-slap-slap-slap-quickly-i'm-late generation. My apologies to the rest of you.) It's a daily thing, but also a weekly thing. Every day a different letter is posted on the site. They are open, they are honest, they are moving, they are funny, they are real. Go see, you must.

Operation PAL
Operation PAL was started by MarineParents.com to support active duty Marines who have become ill or injured while in combat or upon return from combat. This web site has a list of Marines and Sailors who need your thoughts, your kind support and prayers. Even if you can only send one letter, click on one of these soldiers' names and read about the sacrifice they have made for us as Americans. Write a card today!

Fictional Letters

The Correspondence of Professor J.W. Worthy with Ancients and Moderns
The letterwriting form often lends itself to a nice style when it comes to expressing oneself. This writer talks to famous and historical figures about a variety of topics. If you like this particular literary style of writing, you should also check out Mark Twain's Letters from the Earth.

Ghostletters
Ghostletters are letters written as historical or fictional characters. If you love writing creative letters in the guise of someone else, you should check out this group. It looks like lots of fun!

Letters from the Earth
Not real letters, but Mark Twain is so good we can pretend the letters are real.

 

The Civil War

Civil War Diaries
Yahoo's list of links to diaries from the Civil War.

Civil War Letters and Diaries
A long list of links to letters written during the Civil War.

Love Letters from the Civil War
Virginia Tech has a collection of love letters from the Civil War in their holdings. I love Civil War letters. Everyone spoke "so prettily" back then!

The Sullivan Ballou Letter
This is my personal favorite of all the letters I've read from the Civil War. The writing is beautiful, poetic, fabulous. It was used with superb music in the Ken Burns documentary of the same topic. (And that documentary is a MUST SEE if you're a fan of the Civil War.)

 

Authors and Letters

Austen on Epistolary
Jane Austen was a huge fan of letter writing. She covers the topic in her writings and she herself wrote hundreds of letters in her lifetime. This site talks about Austen's view on correspondence and describe letter writing and mail of the period.

Eight or Nine Words About Letter Writing
Advice from Lewis Carroll about letter writing.

 

Paraphernalia

Lady's Pocket Book or Letter Case c. 1780-1800
A few photos of a silk pocket book or letter case carried by ladies of bygone days. (Personally, when I go traveling, I have a monstrously sturdy black canvas zipper thingy with lots of pockets on it. It's small and perfect for all my letter writing stuff. Not elegant, but way more durable than silk.)

Crane & Company
Very fine papers and stationery.

 

Miscellaneous

Correspondence: The art of making a connection
Many people claim that email is hastening the demise of letterwriting. This site says that's not true, that email can still be as artful as letters from the past. See what you think.

Love Story in a Pocket
This is a Real Audio clip from NPR (Feb 10, 2001). The description from the NPR site reads, "Lisa talks with Jeanne Thaggard of Austin, Texas. In the 1920's, Thaggard's parents met through the exchange of message in a shirt pocket, sent from the Montgomery Ward shipping center. (8:30)"

News Stories About Letters
Occasionally I run across articles about letters or letter writing that are worthy of mention. Below are the links to the stories:

Other People's Mail
For a change, here is something in audio. It's from a radio show called "This American Life" and it's all about other people's mail. In Real Audio format, you can hear the show divided up into different segments. The web page I'm linking you to has a summary of what's in the show. Pretty provocative stuff.

Progressive Secretary
A free letter writing service for those who want to send letters to politicians and other people-of-influence. All letters are devoted to progressive causes. This could be a great way to get your voice heard without having to write the letters from scratch yourself.

Rivertrout
Is it bad for me to play favorites? Sometimes I can't help myself. This site is really wonderful and touches me deeply.

So There
Letters unsent, people pouring out their hearts. Love, hate, beauty, pain. This site is a must see.

 

Pen Pals

Just Write
Just Write is a quarterly print publication dedicated to letter writers. It includes articles about letter writing, stationery, pens, etc. They also provide a letter forwarding service for current subscribers.

The Letter Exchange (LEX)
The Letter Exchange is a quarterly print publication that "supports and encourages the age-old art of letter-writing." They have a wonderful history of connecting people with their anonymous mail forwarding system. Great way to develop a penpal relationships safely and with a group of people who area passionately devoted to letters.

Penpal Network
A collection of people who are looking for penpals.

pX!
I was hesitant to put this under Pen Pals because it's really not. But it is too sort of. Confused? Don't be. Just go check it out. It's so worth a look. Creative, fresh, fun, spunky and more. When you get there, you'll see a name and address. Send the person something! Or fish around and find someone else you might have chemistry with. It's a whole database of people who want to send and receive weirdness and fun through the mail. It will change your life, I promise.

 

Diaries and Journals

1000 Journals Project
This project involves 1000 journals traveling the world. It is an ongoing, collaborative project that follows these journals as they travel from person to person, evolving and transforming.

Art Journals
Illustrated & doodled journals are fabulous and a big favorite of mine!

Blogger
If you've not heard of "blogs", you've must have been orbiting out in space. Blogs are great if you want an online journal that is quick and easy to use. Piece of cake! I highly recommend it. Here you can also browse other people's blogs.

Electronic Diaries and Journals
Yahoo's whopping list of links to various diaries and journals on the Web.

LiveJournal
Here is another online journaling web site where you can do your "live" journaling.

 

Mail Art

Mail Art is art that is sent through the mail and includes anything that will actually make it through the post. This could be envelopes, cards, packages, and in any type of media (printmaking, drawing, painting, rubber stamping, etc.) Artists not only decorate the items that go through the mail but often they will also create their own postage that they use to stamp alongside the real postage along with postmark cancellation stamps that they apply over their faux postage. It's great fun and really livens up the mail!

Carving Consortium
Eraser carvers have their own niche in the world of mail art.

Electronic Museum of Mail Art (EMMA)
An electronic gallery of mail art and a nice information source with links. The motto on their splash page is "The envelope is the museum."

Artistamps, Faux Postage, Cinderellas
These are postage sheets or miniature art pieces that are postage stamp sized artworks that are made to look like real postage. Some artists do individual pieces, but some go so far as to create their own country (ala Griffin and Sabine) and create a whole story behind their work as a cohesive theme. Below are links to several sites since this is such a popular hobby!

 

The Art of Letters

Graceful Envelope Contest
Every year the Graceful Envelope Contest is held by the Washington (DC) Calligraphers Guild and sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers. They even have categories for children. Even if you aren't artistic, you can still appreciate how lovely the winners are at this web site!

Illustrated Letters
Turn of the century illustrated letter that shows the whimsical and popular fad of replacing words in the letters with drawings. You can see the value of one from Antiques Roadshow.

The Letter-Writing Project
A wonderful art project, the story of which is in the Great Boston Arts web pages. There are three beautiful writing stations complete with stationery. You can sit and write letters and either leave them to be mailed or leave them there open to be read. Write to living people or dead, write the letter you always meant to write but didn't. It's a moving project. If you are anywhere near Boston, check it out and report back!

Way Stations: The Letter-writing Project
The contemporary artist Lee Mingwei has an interactive museum project that also has a web presence. His artwork reflects some of the philosophical concepts of Buddhism. Read about the Letter-writing Project and even participate.

Paintings by Vermeer: Letter-writing series
Vermeer created many paintings of women receiving, reading and writing letters.

Woman Writing a Letter
A painting by Gerard Ter Borch, which probably influenced Vermeer's painting "A Lady Writing a Letter".

 

Technique and Construction

Cursive Writing
Whether you need just a tune-up or a complete overhaul, this site offers instruction on cursive penmanship as well as "flourishes" for the advanced writer.

Folding
Anybody can send a letter in a plain old envelope, but these sites have some great tips on envelope and letter-folding in case you want to really jazz up your notes and mail.

Writing Love Letters
Need some help getting started on writing a love note? Try these:

I Don't Know Where to Start: Writing Letters of Condolence
Suggestions about writing letters to those who are in grief.

Letters of Reference and Recommendation
List of links to sites that will show you how to write letters of reference and recommendation. A letter of reference is a generic letter that describes the qualities and skills of the person for whom you are writing the letter. A letter of recommendation is one in which you go a step further and describe why you think the person is suitable for a particular job, position or award.

Letters Writing Rules
The nuts and bolts of letter writing.

Public Scribe
A lot of people think letter-writing is tough. Are you having trouble getting one finished (or started, even)? Try posting yours at the Public Scribe where letter fans will improve on your draft.

Secret of My Success
A thoughtful essay about how letter-writing can change your life. This is a fantastic story that everyone should read.

 

History & Culture of Letter Writing

Emily Post on Letter Writing
Emily Post is one of the leading authorities on etiquette. Available online is her etiquette book written in 1922 which also has a substantial portion devoted to letter writing. Reading this will not only help you improve your letter writing in general, but might help you avoid mistakes you didn't even know you were making.

History of the U.S. Postal Service
The U.S. Postal Service's web site offers a section about the history of their services. Here you can also find the history extended version.

Letters to the Dead
In Egypt there was a tradition of writing letters to dead relatives. The letters were generally written to ask for help with problems. This site gives some details about this ancient custom.

Letter Writing Writing Style of 1775
Royal navy and marine living history reenactor's have provided information on how to write period-style letters.

Medieval Missives and Letter Writing
A compilation of opening and closings of letters to aid in reproducing period-style letters. This is another page from reenactors.

National Postal Museum
The web site of the National Postal Museum in Washington D.C.

Victorian Rituals: Letter Writing
A short page on some Victorian letter writing rituals of women including encrypted messages and a recipe for scented inks.

Youth's Educator for Home and Society, Chapter 19
Chapter 19 of this book published in 1896 explains the benefits of good letter writing as well as what ink and paper to use, how to abbreviate and address, and much more. Be sure to check out the end... "Writing to Strangers". It explains why young ladies should not write to strange men!

The Origin of the Dear John Letter
We've all heard of the "Dear John Letter" (and some of us have received them), but where did that phrase come from?

The Postal History Website
A little bit of this and that, all related to the topic of postal history. This is a specially good site for collectors as there are many links to dealers and clubs.


Maintained by Wendy Russ, wendy@wendy.com