Correspondence: Models of Letter-Writing from the Middle Ages to the Nineteenth Century

by Roger Chartier (Contributor), Alain Boureau, Cécile Dauphin

Correspondence explores the history of a fascinating cultural practice: the writing of letters. From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, western societies served a long apprenticeship in the culture of the written word. Although mastery of reading and writing was far from evenly distributed, many tradesmen, shopkeepers, and artisans possessed these skills. A specialized literature came into being whose aim it was to regulate and control ordinary forms of letter-writing by instilling in people the difficult techniques that this writing entailed. As a result, tensions evolved in the structured practice of letter-writing. Although writers wished to stay within the guidelines set forth by secrétaires or by collections of model letters, they also wanted to be spontaneous. Correspondence explores these tensions over a long span of time by examining model letter collections.

Contents:
Introduction: An ordinary kind of writing / Roger Chartier
1. The letter-writing norm, a mediaeval invention / Alain Boureau
2. Secrétaires for the people? / Roger Chartier --
3. Letter-writing manuals in the nineteenth century / Cécile Dauphin.

Translation of 3 chapters from La correspondance: les usages de la lettre au XIXe siècle (1991).

162 pages, Hardcover

First published April 4, 1991

About the author

Roger Chartier is a French historian and historiographer who is part of the Annales school. He works on the history of books, publishing and reading. He teaches at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, the Collège de France, and the University of Pennsylvania.