Writing a friendly letter is like starting a conversation with a friend.
— Thomas Arkle Clark
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The Dover collection Books, Reading and Writing Illustrations, which contributed the writing hands on pages 14 through 19 and the drawing on page 1, is one of a series of books of vintage illustrations that each come with a DVD of the drawings as files ready to use as clip art. It contains a section of drawings of famous authors as well as scenes of people reading and writing and snippets such as pens and ink bottles.
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The Book of Dragons |
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E. Nesbit (page 4) was a popular writer of whimsical children's fantasy in her day; she's less well known now (except for The Railway Children, which has been filmed several times), but her books can still be found in libraries and bookstores. The book this excerpt was taken from consists of stories originally written for The Strand magazine. Nesbit was a major influence on the course of children's fantasy; her practice of setting stories in the real world, which is now commonplace, was rare at the time. Edward Eager and C. S. Lewis openly admitted being influenced by her, and some literary historians credit her with paving the way for the books of Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Jane Louise Curry, and the early works of Diana Wynne Jones, among many others who also depict a complex social structure and plot occurring with little intervention from adults.
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| The Po(o)st Office |
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The Post Office of India and Its Story (page 8) was one of a number of books about the British Post Office published around the turn of the century (1900, not the most recent turn), which generally consisted of a mix of personal reminiscences, often gently humorous, with extensive collections of names and figures. Few are sold today, but they're still available in some libraries and online. Stamps of India has an extensive collection of books on the postal history of India, including this one.
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| The Fountain Pen |
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Lucy Fountain wrote many articles in the 1800s for magazines such as Putnam's Monthly Magazine of American Literature, Science and Art. To us the article on page 10 seems to ramble from topic to topic in a rather disorganized manner, but her frequent appearance suggests that her articles were enjoyed nonetheless.
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Postal problems |
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New to LEX with Issue 19? You can find the Ghost Letter article referred to on page 14 and Angela's Post Office story from page 17 in Issue 18, available as a back issue.
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Did they stick the stamps on their foreheads? |
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The refusal of the Prime Minister to receive suffragette visitors in 1909 (page 17) wasn't only a disagreement with their views – some members of the movement advocated violence against property, and several months after the mailing incident an assassination plot was feared. Several years later "guerrillist" actions (a term employed by a movement leader) included destroying letters in postboxes. In the U.S., children were occasionally sent by mail, but the practice was forbidden by the Postmaster General when he learned of it.
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The odd couple |
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Unlike Jane Austen or Emily Dickinson, Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle (page 20) may very well be better known today for their more than 9,000 letters than for their other writing – Thomas' social and political essays are hardly household topics today, and Jane published very little, although she wrote poetry. Jane suffered from migraines and what she called "these coorsed nervous disorders"; Thomas from insomnia and poor digestion for which he was given mercury, now known to be a nervous system poison (the phrase "mad as a hatter" may have originated in the use of mercury in the manufacture of felt hats). Like Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the Carlyles originally met through letters, in which Thomas recommended books to the intellectually-eager Jane (who had badgered her father into letting her learn Latin at the age of five). Quotes from Jane in particular often appear on the listings pages of LEX due to their personal and sometimes breezy style.
As with the letters of Alexander Pope (see Issue 18), there was a controversy over the publication of Thomas Carlyle's letters that is not fully resolved today. After his death, his literary executor James Froude published many of the letters, allegedly according to Carlyle's wishes. Carlyle's nephew Alexander, however, took offense and claimed that Froude was choosing excerpts so as to deliberately show Carlyle in a bad light, and he published what he claimed were the nearly-complete letters as a rebuttal. Most literary historians today, though, question Alexander Carlyle's motives more than Froude's. There is also a continuing controversy between a "Jane faction" and a "Thomas faction" as to who, in Butler's words, made the other more miserable. There was a discrepancy between their social classes and their approach to society – Thomas was a recluse and Jane chafed at the isolation of their Scottish farm. Both were likely hypochondriacs, and their quarrelsome marriage is among the most well-documented of the Victorian period. Samuel Butler (page 21) was something of a loner; Eliza Mary Ann Savage is thought to have been his only close female friend, and after her death he published their correspondence, saying he wished to memorialize her. An example of the wit she displayed in letters: "As regards sneezing I have before explained to you, that Mr. Darwin notwithstanding, I hold it to be caused by Diabolic agency. A reflex action indeed! If Mr. Darwin knew how a Sneeze will sometimes lie in wait for you, for an hour at a time, and then, the moment you are off your guard, will seize you and sneeze you, he would know better than to talk about reflex actions."
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Some of the 6 million items |
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The Smithsonian's National Postal Museum (page 22) has both physical and online exhibitions – the latter range from John Lennon's stamp collection to war letters refound after being lost to Franklin Roosevelt's designs for stamps. There's also a page of postal-related games for children, and you can download stationery designs or learn how to preserve letters from the ravages of time and the elements.
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This 'n' that 'n' t'other |
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Here are some handy links to the items mentioned in "From the Editors" (page 29) – Lexer Jackie Flaherty's Letters & Journals blog, OOregoods, and the book Mule Train Mail. Watch the LEX blog "From the Mailstrom" for a review of Mule Train Mail, and our letter-related book page "The Mailboox", where it will initiate a new "Book-of-the-Month" feature in July.
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| Clicking on most of the books on this page will take you to Powell's, the world's largest independent bookstore. You can also use the search engine to the left. Any purchase you make by following one of these links will help support LEX – not just these items but any book or DVD in their inventory. | |
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