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The value of letters[edit]
Aside from their use as a means of correspondence, letters can be seen as an accurate representation of people’s lived experiences during different historical eras, and much information can be gleaned from what we read in letters both public and private.[1] Letters tend to be valuable for many reasons, and were used in Victorian times for several purposes. Some of these purposes are laid out by James Willis Westlake, a Victorian author. First, Westlake says letters are valuable in acquiring knowledge of past people and events.[1] Secondly, he believes they are important in gaining insight into the moral lives of great people after which one’s own behavior could be modeled.[1] Finally, Westlake claims that one may use the letters of well-written and eloquent individuals to adapt and improve his or her own letter-writing style.[1] In the New London Fashionable Gentleman’s Writer, we find an example of the third usage of letter writing: a collection of quaint correspondences between hopeful men and the ladies they wished to court.[2] Such a manual may have been used by anxious men as they prepared to write to their love interests and express their feelings, and perhaps by women as they decided how best to accept or reject the advances.
Some prominent figures of the day turned to letter writing as a creative outlet. Emily Dickinson used her letters to push back against the constraints which women, herself included, faced during the era.[3] Letter-writing was one of the few literary pursuits in which women were allowed to participate, and Dickinson used this to her advantage, infusing traditional letter-writing with her own artistic flair in order to develop her skills as a writer.[3] George Howell, an amateur Victorian artist, used his letters to his brother as a space to entwine his words and his artistic works.[4] Similarly, Beatrix Potter, an author/illustrator, often included pictures in her letters as a means of comfort and relief from the pressures she faced from her family.[4]
Children were taught the art of letter-writing, as well; they were particularly taught to form letters neatly with instructive books filled with drawing and line instruction.[5] One of these such books, “Elementary Drawing Copy Books,” incorporated traditional alphabet practice with instructions on drawing elements of the natural world.[5] Aside from proper handwriting, young boys and girls were taught to compose letters for different reasons. Girls’ writing books taught them to use their writing skills for household management tasks, while those for boys taught proper form for business correspondence.[6]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d James Willis Westlake (1876). How to Write Letters: A Manual of Correspondence, Showing the Correct Structure, Composition ... unknown library. Sower, Potts & co. pp. 122–123.
- ^ Richardson's New London fashionable gentleman's valentine writer, or, The lover's own book for this year : containing a very choice selection of original and popular valentines with appropriate answers. Boston Public Library. Derby : Thomas Richardson. 1828.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b Tingley, Stephanie A. (1996). ""A Letter Is a Joy of Earth ": Emily Dickinson's Letters and Victorian Epistolary Conventions". The Emily Dickinson Journal. 5 (2): 202–208. doi:10.1353/edj.0.0171. ISSN 1096-858X.
- ^ a b Golden, Catherine. (2010). "Benefits and Blessings Letters Home, Friendship, Death Notices, Courtship, and Valentines by Penny Post". Posting it : the Victorian revolution in letter writing. University Press of Florida. pp. 201–202. ISBN 0813035414. OCLC 578666117.
- ^ a b Jordan, John O. Patten, Robert L.; Curtis (2003). "The Art of Seeing: Dickens in the Visual Market". Literature in the marketplace : nineteenth-century British publishing and reading practices. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521893930. OCLC 710012785.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Morison, Stanley, 1889-1967. (1962). The English Writing-Masters and Their Copy Books, 1570-1800; A Biographical Dictionary & a Bibliography. With an Introd. on the Development of Handwriting by Stanley Morison. Illustrated With Portraits of the Masters and Specimens of Their Hands. OCLC 624400989.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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