Catherine Conybeare
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780199240722
- eISBN:
- 9780191600494
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199240728.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
The heart of this book is a reading of the letters of Paulinus of Nola, aristocratic convert to Christianity of the late fourth‐century, and his correspondents, most notably St Augustine of Hippo. We ...
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The heart of this book is a reading of the letters of Paulinus of Nola, aristocratic convert to Christianity of the late fourth‐century, and his correspondents, most notably St Augustine of Hippo. We begin with an analysis of letter writing in late antiquity; we investigate the letters as traces of fuller historical events, emphasize the importance of the letter carriers, and conclude that the letters have a sacramental function. The notion of spiritual community created and sustained by the letters is explored through discussions of Christian friendship, and of the patterns of imagistic thought which facilitate the spiritual interpretation of mundane events. Finally, we demonstrate how Paulinus’ notion of spiritual community leads to a novel conception of the self as truly relational. The impact of these letters, and of the epistolary mode, on the formation of Christian ways of life and thought is extraordinary.Less
The heart of this book is a reading of the letters of Paulinus of Nola, aristocratic convert to Christianity of the late fourth‐century, and his correspondents, most notably St Augustine of Hippo. We begin with an analysis of letter writing in late antiquity; we investigate the letters as traces of fuller historical events, emphasize the importance of the letter carriers, and conclude that the letters have a sacramental function. The notion of spiritual community created and sustained by the letters is explored through discussions of Christian friendship, and of the patterns of imagistic thought which facilitate the spiritual interpretation of mundane events. Finally, we demonstrate how Paulinus’ notion of spiritual community leads to a novel conception of the self as truly relational. The impact of these letters, and of the epistolary mode, on the formation of Christian ways of life and thought is extraordinary.
Efrossini Spentzou
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199255689
- eISBN:
- 9780191719608
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199255689.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter focuses on those features of the Heroides which are directly related to their epistolary form, in an attempt to explore the ways in which letter-writing and letter-reading creates and ...
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This chapter focuses on those features of the Heroides which are directly related to their epistolary form, in an attempt to explore the ways in which letter-writing and letter-reading creates and manipulates meaning in the Ovidian collection. In stressing the epistolary element within the collection's generic multivalence, the chapter's arguments draw on insights concerning the epistolary novel, a genre distinguished in modern times with acknowledged debts to Ovid's Heroides.Less
This chapter focuses on those features of the Heroides which are directly related to their epistolary form, in an attempt to explore the ways in which letter-writing and letter-reading creates and manipulates meaning in the Ovidian collection. In stressing the epistolary element within the collection's generic multivalence, the chapter's arguments draw on insights concerning the epistolary novel, a genre distinguished in modern times with acknowledged debts to Ovid's Heroides.
James Daybell
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199259915
- eISBN:
- 9780191717437
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199259915.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter deals with the functional aspects of letters, arguing that the epistolary form was appropriated for an increasing variety of uses over the course of the 16th century. It also charts ...
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This chapter deals with the functional aspects of letters, arguing that the epistolary form was appropriated for an increasing variety of uses over the course of the 16th century. It also charts women's growing familiarity with letter-writing practices. The chapter begins by looking at the conveying of news in women's correspondence and the ways in which letters performed social courtesies. It examines the ways in which letters acted as gifts, maintaining that the nature of early modern correspondence made it a form of ritual gift-giving: the process of composing and sending a letter was itself an act of gift-giving, the present of a missive delivered from letter-writer to addressee. Finally, the chapter examines the more personal and introspective uses for which women employed letters; the ways in which they understood and articulated their lives, thoughts and experiences; and argues for letters as a material site for the ‘self’.Less
This chapter deals with the functional aspects of letters, arguing that the epistolary form was appropriated for an increasing variety of uses over the course of the 16th century. It also charts women's growing familiarity with letter-writing practices. The chapter begins by looking at the conveying of news in women's correspondence and the ways in which letters performed social courtesies. It examines the ways in which letters acted as gifts, maintaining that the nature of early modern correspondence made it a form of ritual gift-giving: the process of composing and sending a letter was itself an act of gift-giving, the present of a missive delivered from letter-writer to addressee. Finally, the chapter examines the more personal and introspective uses for which women employed letters; the ways in which they understood and articulated their lives, thoughts and experiences; and argues for letters as a material site for the ‘self’.
James Daybell
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199259915
- eISBN:
- 9780191717437
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199259915.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This book presents a study of women's letters and letter-writing during the early modern period, and acts as a corrective to traditional ways of reading and discussing letters as private, elite, ...
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This book presents a study of women's letters and letter-writing during the early modern period, and acts as a corrective to traditional ways of reading and discussing letters as private, elite, male, and non-political. Based on over 3,000 manuscript letters, it shows that letter-writing was a larger and more socially diversified area of female activity than has been hitherto assumed. In that letters constitute the largest body of extant 16th-century women's writing, the book initiates a reassessment of women's education and literacy in the period. As indicators of literacy, letters yield physical evidence of rudimentary writing activity and abilities, document ‘higher’ forms of female literacy, and highlight women's mastery of formal rhetorical and epistolary conventions. The book also stresses that letters are unparalleled as intimate and immediate records of family relationships, and as media for personal and self-reflective forms of female expression. Read as documents that inscribe social and gender relations, letters shed light on the complex range of women's personal relationships, as female power and authority fluctuated, negotiated on an individual basis. Furthermore, correspondence highlights the important political roles played by early modern women. Female letter-writers were integral in cultivating and maintaining patronage and kinship networks; they were active as suitors for crown favour, and operated as political intermediaries and patrons in their own right, using letters to elicit influence. Letters thus help to locate differing forms of female power within the family, locality and occasionally on the wider political stage, and offer invaluable primary evidence from which to reconstruct the lives of early modern women.Less
This book presents a study of women's letters and letter-writing during the early modern period, and acts as a corrective to traditional ways of reading and discussing letters as private, elite, male, and non-political. Based on over 3,000 manuscript letters, it shows that letter-writing was a larger and more socially diversified area of female activity than has been hitherto assumed. In that letters constitute the largest body of extant 16th-century women's writing, the book initiates a reassessment of women's education and literacy in the period. As indicators of literacy, letters yield physical evidence of rudimentary writing activity and abilities, document ‘higher’ forms of female literacy, and highlight women's mastery of formal rhetorical and epistolary conventions. The book also stresses that letters are unparalleled as intimate and immediate records of family relationships, and as media for personal and self-reflective forms of female expression. Read as documents that inscribe social and gender relations, letters shed light on the complex range of women's personal relationships, as female power and authority fluctuated, negotiated on an individual basis. Furthermore, correspondence highlights the important political roles played by early modern women. Female letter-writers were integral in cultivating and maintaining patronage and kinship networks; they were active as suitors for crown favour, and operated as political intermediaries and patrons in their own right, using letters to elicit influence. Letters thus help to locate differing forms of female power within the family, locality and occasionally on the wider political stage, and offer invaluable primary evidence from which to reconstruct the lives of early modern women.
Alexandra Socarides
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199858088
- eISBN:
- 9780199950300
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199858088.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 19th Century Literature, Poetry
Chapter 2 explores Dickinson’s letter-writing practices. Dickinson copied poems onto sheets that she enclosed in her letters, inserted poems into the body of her letters proper, and embedded poems ...
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Chapter 2 explores Dickinson’s letter-writing practices. Dickinson copied poems onto sheets that she enclosed in her letters, inserted poems into the body of her letters proper, and embedded poems into the prose itself. This chapter explains how and why she did this; what it meant for her to revisit a poem she had copied onto a sheet or, inversely, to revisit a poem she had sent to a correspondent in order to later copy it onto a sheet; and to deduce what creating a new material context indicates about the relationship between poetry and letters. By looking at the intersection of Dickinson epistolary practices and poetry copying practices, this chapter argues not that Dickinson was either an upholder of generic categories or a great innovator who challenged the distinction between letter and poem. Instead, Dickinson combined practices, defied conventions, and tapped into the permeability of both modes of writing, but she seems not to have been concerned with the generic issues that later readers and editors have asked her poems and letters to address.Less
Chapter 2 explores Dickinson’s letter-writing practices. Dickinson copied poems onto sheets that she enclosed in her letters, inserted poems into the body of her letters proper, and embedded poems into the prose itself. This chapter explains how and why she did this; what it meant for her to revisit a poem she had copied onto a sheet or, inversely, to revisit a poem she had sent to a correspondent in order to later copy it onto a sheet; and to deduce what creating a new material context indicates about the relationship between poetry and letters. By looking at the intersection of Dickinson epistolary practices and poetry copying practices, this chapter argues not that Dickinson was either an upholder of generic categories or a great innovator who challenged the distinction between letter and poem. Instead, Dickinson combined practices, defied conventions, and tapped into the permeability of both modes of writing, but she seems not to have been concerned with the generic issues that later readers and editors have asked her poems and letters to address.
Stewart Alan
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199549276
- eISBN:
- 9780191701504
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199549276.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Shakespeare Studies
The raw materials of letter-writing in the early modern world were multiple and specific; their effective use took time, skill, and labour. While a handful of other playwrights did put letter-writing ...
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The raw materials of letter-writing in the early modern world were multiple and specific; their effective use took time, skill, and labour. While a handful of other playwrights did put letter-writing on stage, generally to comic effect, William Shakespeare chose not to, or at least not in a literal sense. This chapter argues that Shakespeare instead embues his plays with the language and experience of the material letter-writing process — what one might call the grammar of early modern letter-writing — and turns it into something richly theatrical. For Shakespeare's Jack Cade, parchment is still the skin of a lamb while wax comes from a bee, and contains the bee's sting. Elsewhere, pens are goose quills, ink is gall. The raw materials of writing possessed vivid associations for their early modern users, in part no doubt because they often prepared them themselves.Less
The raw materials of letter-writing in the early modern world were multiple and specific; their effective use took time, skill, and labour. While a handful of other playwrights did put letter-writing on stage, generally to comic effect, William Shakespeare chose not to, or at least not in a literal sense. This chapter argues that Shakespeare instead embues his plays with the language and experience of the material letter-writing process — what one might call the grammar of early modern letter-writing — and turns it into something richly theatrical. For Shakespeare's Jack Cade, parchment is still the skin of a lamb while wax comes from a bee, and contains the bee's sting. Elsewhere, pens are goose quills, ink is gall. The raw materials of writing possessed vivid associations for their early modern users, in part no doubt because they often prepared them themselves.
Annelise Freisenbruch
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199203956
- eISBN:
- 9780191708244
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199203956.003.0011
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter re-evaluates Fronto's letters within the traditions of epistolary scholarship and against the backdrop of a surge of interest in the epistolarity of the letter collections of antiquity. ...
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This chapter re-evaluates Fronto's letters within the traditions of epistolary scholarship and against the backdrop of a surge of interest in the epistolarity of the letter collections of antiquity. Because Fronto has a valuable role to play in the call for a reassessment of the Roman letter-writing voice and identity, his correspondence with his pupil, emperor-in-the-making Marcus Aurelius, is examined. The recurring narrative of sickness and health that features in over eighty of the extant letters between Fronto and Marcus Aurelius is examined, with a particular emphasis on the ailments of the former. This chapter explores the pressing question of whether Fronto and Marcus Aurelius' letters should be regarded as simply reflecting the trend of their age to open up about one's state of health, or whether there is something more pointed, more calculated about such an epistolary narrative.Less
This chapter re-evaluates Fronto's letters within the traditions of epistolary scholarship and against the backdrop of a surge of interest in the epistolarity of the letter collections of antiquity. Because Fronto has a valuable role to play in the call for a reassessment of the Roman letter-writing voice and identity, his correspondence with his pupil, emperor-in-the-making Marcus Aurelius, is examined. The recurring narrative of sickness and health that features in over eighty of the extant letters between Fronto and Marcus Aurelius is examined, with a particular emphasis on the ailments of the former. This chapter explores the pressing question of whether Fronto and Marcus Aurelius' letters should be regarded as simply reflecting the trend of their age to open up about one's state of health, or whether there is something more pointed, more calculated about such an epistolary narrative.
Susan E. Whyman
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199532445
- eISBN:
- 9780191714535
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199532445.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History, British and Irish Modern History
This introductory chapter shows how a culture of letters and literacy that included lower and middling-sort letter writers was created in England by 1800. It examines the epistolary tradition in ...
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This introductory chapter shows how a culture of letters and literacy that included lower and middling-sort letter writers was created in England by 1800. It examines the epistolary tradition in English culture and the rise of the post office. The concept of epistolary literacy is introduced and defined. The discovery of thousands of letters in unknown archives below the rank of gentry provided the source material for the book. They will be used to show why people wrote letters, how they used them, and their impact on individuals, families, and society.Less
This introductory chapter shows how a culture of letters and literacy that included lower and middling-sort letter writers was created in England by 1800. It examines the epistolary tradition in English culture and the rise of the post office. The concept of epistolary literacy is introduced and defined. The discovery of thousands of letters in unknown archives below the rank of gentry provided the source material for the book. They will be used to show why people wrote letters, how they used them, and their impact on individuals, families, and society.
BONNIE S. McDOUGALL
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199256792
- eISBN:
- 9780191698378
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199256792.003.0008
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, South and East Asia
This chapter provides a brief sketch of letter writing in China and Western countries, with particular attention to published letters, love-letters, and letters in literature. It was this background ...
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This chapter provides a brief sketch of letter writing in China and Western countries, with particular attention to published letters, love-letters, and letters in literature. It was this background from which Lu Xun and Xu Guangping drew for their own practice. The discussion summarizes the major characteristics of letters in pre-modern China, as well as the features associated with Western letter writing which differ from older Chinese letters. When Chinese writers and readers looked westwards in the early twentieth century, they quickly assimilated almost all of these features. Of particular relevance to the letters written and then published by Xu Guangping and Lu Xun are the porous borders between personal and open letters, between love-letters and other kinds of intimate confessions, and between authentic and imagined letters.Less
This chapter provides a brief sketch of letter writing in China and Western countries, with particular attention to published letters, love-letters, and letters in literature. It was this background from which Lu Xun and Xu Guangping drew for their own practice. The discussion summarizes the major characteristics of letters in pre-modern China, as well as the features associated with Western letter writing which differ from older Chinese letters. When Chinese writers and readers looked westwards in the early twentieth century, they quickly assimilated almost all of these features. Of particular relevance to the letters written and then published by Xu Guangping and Lu Xun are the porous borders between personal and open letters, between love-letters and other kinds of intimate confessions, and between authentic and imagined letters.
Susan E. Whyman
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199532445
- eISBN:
- 9780191714535
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199532445.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History, British and Irish Modern History
This concluding chapter summarizes epistolary patterns that emerged from the case studies in relation to age, gender, class, geographical location, and religion. It presents the varied roles of ...
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This concluding chapter summarizes epistolary patterns that emerged from the case studies in relation to age, gender, class, geographical location, and religion. It presents the varied roles of letters over time. Letter writing acquired its purpose, format, and conventions from an older classical tradition. During the 18th century, it shed many formalities and adopted aspects of middling-sort culture. A national letter form that employed the merchant's round hand gradually became the norm. It embodied plain-spoken English virtues instead of flamboyant mannerisms of French letters. The ideal letter grew more informal, and the gap in expertise between letters of men and women disappeared. Yet the inherent tension between the rigid conventions of the letter form and the impulse to write naturally was never wholly resolved. The democratization of letter writing not only affected individuals and families, it had social, economic, literary, and political impacts on the English nation.Less
This concluding chapter summarizes epistolary patterns that emerged from the case studies in relation to age, gender, class, geographical location, and religion. It presents the varied roles of letters over time. Letter writing acquired its purpose, format, and conventions from an older classical tradition. During the 18th century, it shed many formalities and adopted aspects of middling-sort culture. A national letter form that employed the merchant's round hand gradually became the norm. It embodied plain-spoken English virtues instead of flamboyant mannerisms of French letters. The ideal letter grew more informal, and the gap in expertise between letters of men and women disappeared. Yet the inherent tension between the rigid conventions of the letter form and the impulse to write naturally was never wholly resolved. The democratization of letter writing not only affected individuals and families, it had social, economic, literary, and political impacts on the English nation.
Troels Engberg‐Pedersen
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199558568
- eISBN:
- 9780191720970
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199558568.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Philosophy of Religion
This chapter summarizes the results of the book under the rubrics of the double perspective of cognitive and physical analysis; of Paul's attempt to articulate a new habitus for himself and his ...
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This chapter summarizes the results of the book under the rubrics of the double perspective of cognitive and physical analysis; of Paul's attempt to articulate a new habitus for himself and his addressees as seen in relation to others that were available in his immediate context (in particular, a Hellenistic Jewish one and a Graeco-Roman philosophical one); and finally, of his idea of his own letter-writing as a case of bodily, missionary practice.Less
This chapter summarizes the results of the book under the rubrics of the double perspective of cognitive and physical analysis; of Paul's attempt to articulate a new habitus for himself and his addressees as seen in relation to others that were available in his immediate context (in particular, a Hellenistic Jewish one and a Graeco-Roman philosophical one); and finally, of his idea of his own letter-writing as a case of bodily, missionary practice.
Dorothy Lander and John Graham‐Pole
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195335224
- eISBN:
- 9780199868810
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195335224.003.0019
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter explores the “reflective practice” of letter-writing to the deceased. It reviews the literature of this unique form of epistolary communication, as a prelude to writing letters to the ...
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This chapter explores the “reflective practice” of letter-writing to the deceased. It reviews the literature of this unique form of epistolary communication, as a prelude to writing letters to the chapter's authors' beloved dead. In subsequent dialogue, the chapter reviews the potential of this autoethnographic and holistic methodology for death education, as well as for research and care work, in both formal and informal palliative care settings. It is argued that death and mourning are hard to teach through didactics and need to be interwoven with arts-based personal story, self-expression, and dialogue. The chapter proposes that such direct, non-mediated, communications can offer a vital, although largely unexplored, form of lifelong pedagogy as well as serving as a source of direct healing for bereaved people, whether personal or professional caregivers.Less
This chapter explores the “reflective practice” of letter-writing to the deceased. It reviews the literature of this unique form of epistolary communication, as a prelude to writing letters to the chapter's authors' beloved dead. In subsequent dialogue, the chapter reviews the potential of this autoethnographic and holistic methodology for death education, as well as for research and care work, in both formal and informal palliative care settings. It is argued that death and mourning are hard to teach through didactics and need to be interwoven with arts-based personal story, self-expression, and dialogue. The chapter proposes that such direct, non-mediated, communications can offer a vital, although largely unexplored, form of lifelong pedagogy as well as serving as a source of direct healing for bereaved people, whether personal or professional caregivers.
G. O. Hutchinson
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199203956
- eISBN:
- 9780191708244
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199203956.003.0002
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter examines papyrus letters, with emphasis on private letters and their relationship with literature. The role of critical analysis in understanding the link between papyrus private letters ...
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This chapter examines papyrus letters, with emphasis on private letters and their relationship with literature. The role of critical analysis in understanding the link between papyrus private letters and literature are discussed by citing the Greek document The Oxyrhynchus Papyri 2190, a letter from a student to his father dating from around AD 100. The document clearly has a pragmatic function, which must be related to its form; and, as with oratory, any persuasive shaping of the text would scarcely be separable from the text itself. Two approaches can be envisaged from the letter with respect to critical analysis. First, then, the category of literature could be conceived in institutional terms: one might try distinguishing, say, between writing essentially for one reader and writing for readers or listeners beyond one's immediate circle. The second approach, which should be added, would look beyond an institutional division.Less
This chapter examines papyrus letters, with emphasis on private letters and their relationship with literature. The role of critical analysis in understanding the link between papyrus private letters and literature are discussed by citing the Greek document The Oxyrhynchus Papyri 2190, a letter from a student to his father dating from around AD 100. The document clearly has a pragmatic function, which must be related to its form; and, as with oratory, any persuasive shaping of the text would scarcely be separable from the text itself. Two approaches can be envisaged from the letter with respect to critical analysis. First, then, the category of literature could be conceived in institutional terms: one might try distinguishing, say, between writing essentially for one reader and writing for readers or listeners beyond one's immediate circle. The second approach, which should be added, would look beyond an institutional division.
Susan Whyman
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199532445
- eISBN:
- 9780191714535
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199532445.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History, British and Irish Modern History
The Pen and the People shows how 18th-century men and women learned to write letters, why and how they used them, and the impact of letter writing on their lives and the wider culture. ...
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The Pen and the People shows how 18th-century men and women learned to write letters, why and how they used them, and the impact of letter writing on their lives and the wider culture. Based on over sixty unknown collections of family papers discovered over a ten year period, it tells the stories of middling and lower-sort people — a Yorkshire bridle maker, a domestic female servant, a Derbyshire wheelwright, an untrained woman writing poetry and short stories, as well as merchants and their families — all over many generations. Their ordinary backgrounds and extraordinary writings challenge accepted views that popular literacy was rare in England before 1800. This democratization of letter writing could never have occurred without the development of the Royal Mail. New information gleaned from personal letters tells a very different story about the development of the Post Office, which had altered the rhythms of daily life long before the 19th century. Yet the popularization of letter writing not only affected individuals, it had social, economic, and political impacts on 18th-century society. Its unique influence on literary culture, especially on reading and the rise of the novel, is reassessed from an historical point of view. Whyman's fresh approach captures actual dialogues of people telling stories about their lives. Easy to read tables present the newly-discovered archives, biographical details of principal letter writers, and the topics and social relationships revealed in thousands of letters.Less
The Pen and the People shows how 18th-century men and women learned to write letters, why and how they used them, and the impact of letter writing on their lives and the wider culture. Based on over sixty unknown collections of family papers discovered over a ten year period, it tells the stories of middling and lower-sort people — a Yorkshire bridle maker, a domestic female servant, a Derbyshire wheelwright, an untrained woman writing poetry and short stories, as well as merchants and their families — all over many generations. Their ordinary backgrounds and extraordinary writings challenge accepted views that popular literacy was rare in England before 1800. This democratization of letter writing could never have occurred without the development of the Royal Mail. New information gleaned from personal letters tells a very different story about the development of the Post Office, which had altered the rhythms of daily life long before the 19th century. Yet the popularization of letter writing not only affected individuals, it had social, economic, and political impacts on 18th-century society. Its unique influence on literary culture, especially on reading and the rise of the novel, is reassessed from an historical point of view. Whyman's fresh approach captures actual dialogues of people telling stories about their lives. Easy to read tables present the newly-discovered archives, biographical details of principal letter writers, and the topics and social relationships revealed in thousands of letters.
Jon Hall
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195329063
- eISBN:
- 9780199870233
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195329063.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This book presents a fresh examination of the letters exchanged between Cicero and correspondents such as Pompey, Julius Caesar, and Mark Antony during the final turbulent decades of the Roman ...
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This book presents a fresh examination of the letters exchanged between Cicero and correspondents such as Pompey, Julius Caesar, and Mark Antony during the final turbulent decades of the Roman Republic. Drawing upon sociolinguistic theories of politeness, it argues that formal relationships between powerful members of the elite were constrained by distinct conventions of courtesy and etiquette. By examining in detail these linguistic conventions of politeness, the book presents new insights into the social manners that shaped aristocratic relationships. Specific topics include a discussion of the role of letter-writing within the Roman aristocracy; the epistolary use of linguistic politeness to convey respect to fellow members of the elite; the deployment of conventionalized expressions of affection and goodwill to cultivate alliances with ambitious rivals, and the diplomatic exploitation of “polite fictions” at times of political tension. The book also explores the strategies of politeness employed by Cicero and his correspondents when making requests and dispensing advice, and when engaging in epistolary disagreements (Cicero's exchanges with Appius Claudius Pulcher, Munatius Plancus, and Mark Antony receive particular attention).Less
This book presents a fresh examination of the letters exchanged between Cicero and correspondents such as Pompey, Julius Caesar, and Mark Antony during the final turbulent decades of the Roman Republic. Drawing upon sociolinguistic theories of politeness, it argues that formal relationships between powerful members of the elite were constrained by distinct conventions of courtesy and etiquette. By examining in detail these linguistic conventions of politeness, the book presents new insights into the social manners that shaped aristocratic relationships. Specific topics include a discussion of the role of letter-writing within the Roman aristocracy; the epistolary use of linguistic politeness to convey respect to fellow members of the elite; the deployment of conventionalized expressions of affection and goodwill to cultivate alliances with ambitious rivals, and the diplomatic exploitation of “polite fictions” at times of political tension. The book also explores the strategies of politeness employed by Cicero and his correspondents when making requests and dispensing advice, and when engaging in epistolary disagreements (Cicero's exchanges with Appius Claudius Pulcher, Munatius Plancus, and Mark Antony receive particular attention).
Margret Fetzer
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719083440
- eISBN:
- 9781781700051
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719083440.003.0005
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This chapter identifies the shared aspects of the performances of Donne's prose letters, as well as the ways their strategies may be considered typical (of Donne), and describes his letters as ...
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This chapter identifies the shared aspects of the performances of Donne's prose letters, as well as the ways their strategies may be considered typical (of Donne), and describes his letters as remarkable, since they regard both the immediacy and frequency with which they refer to the materiality of language and of letters. This betrays a considerable awareness of modern debates on letter writing. The chapter also focuses on the ways Donne tries to gain secular favour through letters, which are filled with religious concepts.Less
This chapter identifies the shared aspects of the performances of Donne's prose letters, as well as the ways their strategies may be considered typical (of Donne), and describes his letters as remarkable, since they regard both the immediacy and frequency with which they refer to the materiality of language and of letters. This betrays a considerable awareness of modern debates on letter writing. The chapter also focuses on the ways Donne tries to gain secular favour through letters, which are filled with religious concepts.
Catherine J. Golden
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813033792
- eISBN:
- 9780813039336
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813033792.003.0004
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
This chapter looks at an arguably unexpected outcome of postal reform — the production and consumption of materials that accompanied the Victorian revolution in letter writing. Demand grew for ...
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This chapter looks at an arguably unexpected outcome of postal reform — the production and consumption of materials that accompanied the Victorian revolution in letter writing. Demand grew for writing desks to keep stationery, sealing wax, and a host of postal products. The chapter uses as a focal point the massive Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, 1851. Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue, which describes and illustrates postal ephemera among other symbols of progress featured at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Functioning as material memories of the age to which they belong, pictorial envelopes, letter-writing manuals, and, in particular, writing desks evoke a former way of life, conveying information about social class and status, gender, and aesthetics, as well as about Victorian preoccupations with etiquette, privacy, and personal values, such as love and duty.Less
This chapter looks at an arguably unexpected outcome of postal reform — the production and consumption of materials that accompanied the Victorian revolution in letter writing. Demand grew for writing desks to keep stationery, sealing wax, and a host of postal products. The chapter uses as a focal point the massive Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, 1851. Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue, which describes and illustrates postal ephemera among other symbols of progress featured at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Functioning as material memories of the age to which they belong, pictorial envelopes, letter-writing manuals, and, in particular, writing desks evoke a former way of life, conveying information about social class and status, gender, and aesthetics, as well as about Victorian preoccupations with etiquette, privacy, and personal values, such as love and duty.
Catherine J. Golden
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780813033792
- eISBN:
- 9780813039336
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813033792.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century and Victorian Literature
This chapter considers beneficial types of communication that one can trace to the Victorian letter-writing boom following postal reform. Staying connected with friends and relatives across the new ...
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This chapter considers beneficial types of communication that one can trace to the Victorian letter-writing boom following postal reform. Staying connected with friends and relatives across the new class society was a central reason why the Victorians believed they needed Post Office reform. Accordingly, letters of mourning, advice, friendship, health, courtship, law, business, as well as valentines, although in use prior to Uniform Penny Postage, rose in popularity following reform, offering evidence that the reformed Post Office enabled many more Victorians to reach out to others and stay connected, much as postal reformers had hoped. Calling upon a range of visual and textual sources, this chapter examines postal commodities that carry memories of Victorian mourning, family and friendship ties, and courtship rituals during a period where home and family were sacrosanct, romantic love increasingly affected marriage choices, and death palpably informed daily life.Less
This chapter considers beneficial types of communication that one can trace to the Victorian letter-writing boom following postal reform. Staying connected with friends and relatives across the new class society was a central reason why the Victorians believed they needed Post Office reform. Accordingly, letters of mourning, advice, friendship, health, courtship, law, business, as well as valentines, although in use prior to Uniform Penny Postage, rose in popularity following reform, offering evidence that the reformed Post Office enabled many more Victorians to reach out to others and stay connected, much as postal reformers had hoped. Calling upon a range of visual and textual sources, this chapter examines postal commodities that carry memories of Victorian mourning, family and friendship ties, and courtship rituals during a period where home and family were sacrosanct, romantic love increasingly affected marriage choices, and death palpably informed daily life.
Ramie Targoff
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226789637
- eISBN:
- 9780226789781
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226789781.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, 16th-century and Renaissance Literature
This chapter focuses on John Donne's letters, asking why his craving for intimacy takes the form of a longing to write and receive letters. For Donne, the letter was not simply a useful, if lesser ...
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This chapter focuses on John Donne's letters, asking why his craving for intimacy takes the form of a longing to write and receive letters. For Donne, the letter was not simply a useful, if lesser substitute for actual personal contact, nor was it primarily a means of generating social connections that were otherwise outside his reach. Letters appear to have offered Donne a series of tantalizing possibilities, at once physical and metaphysical, which otherwise seemed to elude him. In letters, he felt he could overcome the problems of separation and absence that haunted him throughout his life, and could convey aspects of his body and soul to friends without needing to be physically present. In letters, Donne felt he could create physical and spiritual modes of intimacy that would endure beyond the immediate moment, and felt that he could “inanimate” dead matter—making the corpse of the paper come alive through the sheer act of writing.Less
This chapter focuses on John Donne's letters, asking why his craving for intimacy takes the form of a longing to write and receive letters. For Donne, the letter was not simply a useful, if lesser substitute for actual personal contact, nor was it primarily a means of generating social connections that were otherwise outside his reach. Letters appear to have offered Donne a series of tantalizing possibilities, at once physical and metaphysical, which otherwise seemed to elude him. In letters, he felt he could overcome the problems of separation and absence that haunted him throughout his life, and could convey aspects of his body and soul to friends without needing to be physically present. In letters, Donne felt he could create physical and spiritual modes of intimacy that would endure beyond the immediate moment, and felt that he could “inanimate” dead matter—making the corpse of the paper come alive through the sheer act of writing.
Paola Ceccarelli
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199675593
- eISBN:
- 9780191757174
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199675593.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The book offers a history of the development of letter writing in ancient Greece from the archaic to the early Hellenistic period. At the end of the fifth and beginning of the fourth century a ...
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The book offers a history of the development of letter writing in ancient Greece from the archaic to the early Hellenistic period. At the end of the fifth and beginning of the fourth century a turning point in epistolography takes place, as an epistolary language appropriate to, and standard for, private communication is developed. Highlighting the specificity of letter-writing, as opposed to other forms of communication and writing, the volume looks at documentary letters, but also traces the role of embedded letters in the texts of the ancient historians, in drama, and in the speeches of the orators. While a letter is in itself the transcription of an oral message and, as such, can be either truthful or deceitful, letters acquired negative connotations in the fifth century when used for transactions concerning the public and not the private sphere. Viewed as the instrument of tyrants or near eastern kings, these negative connotations were evident especially in Athenian drama, where comedy and tragedy testified to an underlying concern with epistolary communication. In other areas of the Greek world, such as Sparta or Crete, the letter may have been seen as an unproblematic instrument for managing public policies: inscriptions document the official use of letters by the Hellenistic kings, and by some poleis as well.Less
The book offers a history of the development of letter writing in ancient Greece from the archaic to the early Hellenistic period. At the end of the fifth and beginning of the fourth century a turning point in epistolography takes place, as an epistolary language appropriate to, and standard for, private communication is developed. Highlighting the specificity of letter-writing, as opposed to other forms of communication and writing, the volume looks at documentary letters, but also traces the role of embedded letters in the texts of the ancient historians, in drama, and in the speeches of the orators. While a letter is in itself the transcription of an oral message and, as such, can be either truthful or deceitful, letters acquired negative connotations in the fifth century when used for transactions concerning the public and not the private sphere. Viewed as the instrument of tyrants or near eastern kings, these negative connotations were evident especially in Athenian drama, where comedy and tragedy testified to an underlying concern with epistolary communication. In other areas of the Greek world, such as Sparta or Crete, the letter may have been seen as an unproblematic instrument for managing public policies: inscriptions document the official use of letters by the Hellenistic kings, and by some poleis as well.
