Feathers shall raise men even as they do birds, toward heaven; that is by letters written with their quills.
— Leonardo da Vinci
| Letter-Writing Manuals | |
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The complete book Manners, Culture and Dress of the Best American Society (cameo on page 1) is available online. The Letter Writer's Own Book, from which the picture on page 4 was taken, isn't likely to show up in most people's home libraries – a poor quality copy sells for US$50. Worldcat lists various editions available in academic libraries, though.
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| The Mailsphere |
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Enjoy author Kihm Winship's writing (page 8)? There's much, much more at his web site, including a collection of Post Office photos, one of mailboxes, and a "Brief History of the Postcard in America". Some of the books mentioned are still in print, including The Friendly Craft, the letters of Lewis Carroll, The Habit of Being, and The Crying of Lot 49.
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Books about Letters |
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Tim Russert's books Big Russ and Me and Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons (page 16) are available in bookstores and libraries – both were #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. The interview with Tom Brokaw doesn't seem to be readily available, but there's a similar one on CNN.
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Also available are two editions of the letters of Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf (page 16). Many other volumes of Woolf's letters are also in print, as well one of Sackville-West's letters to and from her husband Harold Nicolson. The relationship between the two married authors is examined in Desiring Women: The Partnership of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West by Karyn Z. Sproles; Vita and Harold's son Nigel wrote about his parents' non-conventional union in Portrait of a Marriage. Sackville-West was the author of books ranging from a biography of Joan of Arc to a science fiction novel involving a Nazi invasion of the U.S.; her gardens at Sissinghurst Castle are among the most visited in England.
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| Mail Art |
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If the winners of the mail art contest (page 18) leave you wanting more, check out the Graceful Envelope contest of the National Calligrapher's Guild mentioned in the footnote – it's held each year with a different theme. This year it was "A Mailable Feast"; the winners for this year and several past years can be viewed at their web site; you can also subscribe to Scripsit, the grand prize in our contest.
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| Timothy in The World of Letters |
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Gilbert White's book The Natural History of Selborne is still readily available. White's house is open to the public, including the gardens and ha-ha (a sunken fence to keep grazing animals out while minimizing the visual intrusiveness of a fence), one of the first in England. As far as we know Timothy never did tumble down it. In 1946 Sylvia Townsend Warner wrote The Portrait of a Tortoise; more recently, Verlyn Klinkenborg has taken the idea of Timothy writing about her life a step further with an entire book, Timothy, or, Notes of an Abject Reptile. White is now believed to have been wrong about Timothy's species, Testudo graeca, and her North American origin – examination of the shell (which established Timothy's gender) makes it likely she was from the Mediterranean, and the species Testudo whitei has been proposed.
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| Tiger, Tiger |
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Full details of the Universal Postal Union's annual letter-writing contest (page 25) are available at their web site. including the winners since 1972. The contest is open to kids 15 and under, and entries have to come through UPU members' postal services – all countries with LEX subscribers are members, though if any of them are actually involved in helping children submit letters to the UPU, they don't make it easy to find out how. |
| LEX in the news |
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The article from the Minneapolis StarTribune mentioned in "From the Editors" (page 33) is still available online, minus the rather strange photograph (taken in the small walk-in closet that contains LEX's writing desk, the angle required gives it a sort of fun-house look). No matter, though – you can, apparently for several more months, buy a reproduction as a print, on a mug or Christmas ornament, as a jigsaw puzzle, on a T-shirt or mousepad (dartboards not available)... we had no idea what fame we were letting ourselves in for! |
Powell's Books |
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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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The Letter Exchange
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