It’s fantastic. Lots of photos. Large book so you can see a full letter on one page super zoomed in.
All the ways people folded letters or wrote weirdly to cram more writing in small spaces.
Coded messages too!
brenunit on
If you are seeking epistolary novels (a common request on this site), a couple that I have enjoyed are *84 Charing Cross Road* by Helene Hanff and *The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society* by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.
Sablun99 on
I recently started The Correspondent. It’s fictional but written entirely in the form of letters to/from one woman. I’m enjoying it so far
Neat-Arm2242 on
Recent book like this was The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
CrobuzonCitizen on
A Woman of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey
Mentalfloss1 on
*Fair and Tender Ladies*, by Smith is very good.
maedhreos on
One of my favourite nonfiction books ever — Nabokov’s Letters to Vera, it’s utterly beautiful and romantic with lots of fun peeks into a writer’s life. For fictional though a huge +1 for The Correspondent from me too, I cannot recommend it enough so I had to mention it as well as upvoting!
It has some extraordinary pieces of wisdom. Especially the letter that he wrote to his son on how to live a successful life.
TofuAndTantrums on
I’m sorry the title completely confused me, bare in mind it’s 1am and I’m on my second night shift in a row and surviving on less than 4 hours sleep – my initial thought was “aren’t all books just a compilation of different letters? That’s how you write words.”
Promised_Amontillado on
So, these are both fictional, but *Dracula* by Bram Stoker is epistolary. A more recent publication, and an incredibly cleverly written one, is *Ella Minnow Pea*. It is billed as “a novel of letters” in more ways than one!
vienna407 on
Griffin and Sabine
JuniorSupervisor on
Read bottom up is a modern take on this.
Either_Management813 on
Mark Twain’s Letters From the Earth, written as if by an angel who goes to check on things and report back. Pithy and biting as well as funny.
hachiko49 on
Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke is a favorite of mine!!
Bad-River on
This is more of recorded conversations between Jack Kerouac and Neil Cassedy among others. The book is called Visions of Cody. I know quite not what you asked but in the same vein.
mamacrocker on
The Last Days of Summer – beautiful fictional book set on the eve of WWII.
poinsley on
I just read “Ella Minnow Pea” and it was so much fun! As the book goes on, various letters of the alphabet are banned from use.
SerDire on
There is this GORGEOUS book by JJ Abrams (yes, the director) called The Ship of Theseus and it’s gimmick is that two different people pick up and hand off a book as they try to solve a mystery relating to the fictitious author of the book. They leave behind notes in the margins in different colors and fonts and the book is filled with dozens of other physical “scraps of paper” like postcards, newspaper clippings, maps, and even napkins with writings. It’s definitely an adventure.
DetroitLionsSBChamps on
Dracula
Mysterious-Carrot713 on
Anne of Windy Poplars fits the brief but you really would need to read the first 3 books in the series first. 🥰
mjflood14 on
Thanks and Have Fun Running the Country: Kids’ Letters to President Obama, Jory John, editor.
24 Comments
Letter writing in Renaissance England.
It’s fantastic. Lots of photos. Large book so you can see a full letter on one page super zoomed in.
All the ways people folded letters or wrote weirdly to cram more writing in small spaces.
Coded messages too!
If you are seeking epistolary novels (a common request on this site), a couple that I have enjoyed are *84 Charing Cross Road* by Helene Hanff and *The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society* by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.
I recently started The Correspondent. It’s fictional but written entirely in the form of letters to/from one woman. I’m enjoying it so far
Recent book like this was The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
A Woman of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey
*Fair and Tender Ladies*, by Smith is very good.
One of my favourite nonfiction books ever — Nabokov’s Letters to Vera, it’s utterly beautiful and romantic with lots of fun peeks into a writer’s life. For fictional though a huge +1 for The Correspondent from me too, I cannot recommend it enough so I had to mention it as well as upvoting!
[this-is-how-you-lose-the-time-war](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43352954-this-is-how-you-lose-the-time-war)
Letters of Note, by Shaun Usher
Peak of Eloquence.
It has some extraordinary pieces of wisdom. Especially the letter that he wrote to his son on how to live a successful life.
I’m sorry the title completely confused me, bare in mind it’s 1am and I’m on my second night shift in a row and surviving on less than 4 hours sleep – my initial thought was “aren’t all books just a compilation of different letters? That’s how you write words.”
So, these are both fictional, but *Dracula* by Bram Stoker is epistolary. A more recent publication, and an incredibly cleverly written one, is *Ella Minnow Pea*. It is billed as “a novel of letters” in more ways than one!
Griffin and Sabine
Read bottom up is a modern take on this.
Mark Twain’s Letters From the Earth, written as if by an angel who goes to check on things and report back. Pithy and biting as well as funny.
Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke is a favorite of mine!!
This is more of recorded conversations between Jack Kerouac and Neil Cassedy among others. The book is called Visions of Cody. I know quite not what you asked but in the same vein.
The Last Days of Summer – beautiful fictional book set on the eve of WWII.
I just read “Ella Minnow Pea” and it was so much fun! As the book goes on, various letters of the alphabet are banned from use.
There is this GORGEOUS book by JJ Abrams (yes, the director) called The Ship of Theseus and it’s gimmick is that two different people pick up and hand off a book as they try to solve a mystery relating to the fictitious author of the book. They leave behind notes in the margins in different colors and fonts and the book is filled with dozens of other physical “scraps of paper” like postcards, newspaper clippings, maps, and even napkins with writings. It’s definitely an adventure.
Dracula
Anne of Windy Poplars fits the brief but you really would need to read the first 3 books in the series first. 🥰
Thanks and Have Fun Running the Country: Kids’ Letters to President Obama, Jory John, editor.
Dangerous Liaisons is terrific.