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Letter-Writing, Its Ethics and Etiquette, With Remarks on the Proper Use of Monograms, Crests and Seals
Excerpt from Good Form
The art of letter-writing properly demands consider ation in a series of books on Good Form, for there are not many arts so universal or so necessary, and there are today too few accomplished letter-writers. Especially useful must a little volume like the present prove in schools where careful attention has to be given to this subject in its details. The frequent reference here made to English use, has seemed necessary to the author from the fact that in most things, and certainly in literature, the stand ards of the best English society are properly those that have always been followed by the best American society.
The art of letter-writing properly demands consider ation in a series of books on Good Form, for there are not many arts so universal or so necessary, and there are today too few accomplished letter-writers. Especially useful must a little volume like the present prove in schools where careful attention has to be given to this subject in its details. The frequent reference here made to English use, has seemed necessary to the author from the fact that in most things, and certainly in literature, the stand ards of the best English society are properly those that have always been followed by the best American society.
- GenresNonfiction
84 pages, Paperback
First published May 22, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 22, 2020
I just love reading about 19th Century etiquette and this was such a quick, interesting guide to letter-writing in 1890 America. Concise, easy to read but also pretty funny (retrospectively of course!), I would highly recommend this to anyone with similar interests :)
Oh, by the way, if you're struggling to find the book, this is where I read it: https://archive.org/details/cihm_1302... (it's pretty hard to find online but this archive offers free access!).
Oh, by the way, if you're struggling to find the book, this is where I read it: https://archive.org/details/cihm_1302... (it's pretty hard to find online but this archive offers free access!).
April 9, 2021
This is a really interesting little book. Letter writing has recently become more of a passion for me, and I wanted to know how they would have done it when it was the major form of non-verbal communication. It was like reading a piece of history. Very cool.
April 30, 2021
I didn't think I'll have so much fun reading this little book. I just read it out of curiosity, and I'm glad I did!
This book is not only an instruction book about writing letters in the 19th century, it also reflects some of the important social values of the time. It's interesting to see how such values evolved and found their place in our daily lives.
The author's rants about bad spelling, crossing something in your letter and writing anonymous letters made me laugh – a lot:
“Bad spelling like bad grammar, is an offence against society.”
“Never cross your letters, in these days both paper and postage are cheap” ... I wonder what he would have thought about correction tape!
“Anonymous letters are an abomination. […] no respectable man or woman will ever write one. […] If you have anything to say to a person, say it over your own name or else leave it unsaid.”
Other remarks that were really interesting in the book were those about paying attention to politeness and 'good form' in your correspondence, some still exist in our modern-day correspondence i.e. texting and emailing, and some may need to come back into fashion. Just to mention a few:
“The wounds made by ill natured remarks in letters heal more slowly perhaps than any others.” We often talk about how social media affects our mental health because some people just don’t understand how much a word can do -in a positive and negative way. Our screens (perhaps just like letters) are becoming that medium between us and the others, which makes it easier to some people to say whatever they like, whenever they like. Words, however, still hit the same, or even stronger than they were intended to be.
The author also suggests that one should omit jokes from their letters and keep them for face-to-face communication because jokes in letters could easily be misinterpreted (thank god for emojis!) 😏
All of that being said, it’s a small book, very interesting to read. It takes you on a small journey to the 19th century, and it’s kind of fun to compare the etiquette of letter-writing back then with e-mailing rules nowadays and the (usually implicit) norms of texting and chatting.
This book is not only an instruction book about writing letters in the 19th century, it also reflects some of the important social values of the time. It's interesting to see how such values evolved and found their place in our daily lives.
The author's rants about bad spelling, crossing something in your letter and writing anonymous letters made me laugh – a lot:
“Bad spelling like bad grammar, is an offence against society.”
“Never cross your letters, in these days both paper and postage are cheap” ... I wonder what he would have thought about correction tape!
“Anonymous letters are an abomination. […] no respectable man or woman will ever write one. […] If you have anything to say to a person, say it over your own name or else leave it unsaid.”
Other remarks that were really interesting in the book were those about paying attention to politeness and 'good form' in your correspondence, some still exist in our modern-day correspondence i.e. texting and emailing, and some may need to come back into fashion. Just to mention a few:
“The wounds made by ill natured remarks in letters heal more slowly perhaps than any others.” We often talk about how social media affects our mental health because some people just don’t understand how much a word can do -in a positive and negative way. Our screens (perhaps just like letters) are becoming that medium between us and the others, which makes it easier to some people to say whatever they like, whenever they like. Words, however, still hit the same, or even stronger than they were intended to be.
The author also suggests that one should omit jokes from their letters and keep them for face-to-face communication because jokes in letters could easily be misinterpreted (thank god for emojis!) 😏
All of that being said, it’s a small book, very interesting to read. It takes you on a small journey to the 19th century, and it’s kind of fun to compare the etiquette of letter-writing back then with e-mailing rules nowadays and the (usually implicit) norms of texting and chatting.
April 22, 2020
Thoroughly enjoyable read. I expected it to be quite dry but it was entertaining and actually interesting. Would highly recommend.
March 24, 2021
Such an enjoyable informative light read.
August 10, 2021
Read this after it was recommended to me. Expected it to be a bit dull, but it was very entertaining and interesting. Will probably keep this at hand the next time I write a letter (lol).
February 4, 2024
2.5 ⭐️
February 18, 2021
Un agile volumetto che presenta la "good form" per scrivere lettere in maniera corretta.
Il "Letter-writing" è un'arte ormai estinta, soppiantata da SMS e WhatsApp. Forse, però, non sarebbe una cattiva idea riprendere a scrivere qualche lettera ogni tanto.
Il "Letter-writing" è un'arte ormai estinta, soppiantata da SMS e WhatsApp. Forse, però, non sarebbe una cattiva idea riprendere a scrivere qualche lettera ogni tanto.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews