Letters of Note: Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience

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I am a member of what feels like a very limited group of people who still favor “snail mail” and the written word.

In 2009, his love of correspondence resulted in the launch of Letters of Note, an online museum of notable letters which to date has been visited more than 100 million times.

From Virginia Woolf's heart-breaking suicide letter, to Queen Elizabeth II's recipe for drop scones sent to President Eisenhower; from the first recorded use of the expression 'OMG' in a letter to Winston Churchill, to Gandhi's appeal for calm to Hitler; and from Iggy Pop's beautiful letter of advice to a troubled young fan, to Leonardo da Vinci's remarkable job application letter, Letters of Note is a celebration of the power of written correspondence which captures the humour, seriousness, sadness and brilliance that make up all of our lives. Predsednicima, urednicima, poslodavcima, rodjacima, ljubavnicima, kosmosu, samima sebi, na najrazlicitije teme i nacine.

It was ever so thrilling to go to the mailbox and bring back an envelope addressed to me, open it with reverent anticipation, and pour over the words meant for my eyes only. The collection includes such gems as a job application from Leonardo Da Vinci, Iggy Pop’s letter to a fan, Albert Einstein’s take on god, F. Usher notably presents these letters in a very cohesive way forming an even pace and a unified strain even though each page features a different letter. The actual text of the letters are accompanied by brief descriptions of the correspondence, date, and photos/scans of the letters or of the individuals involved. A letter always seemed to me like immortality because it is the mind alone without corporeal friend,” wrote Emily Dickinson.

A small detail worth noting (no pun intended) is the beautiful presentation of including an attached ribbon page-holder to “Letter of Note” which adds sentiment and an element of elegance. Jourdon was slave to Patrick Henry for 32 years, but fled with his wife and children when Union Army soldiers freed the plantation.

There were other worthwhile letters, like the one from the guy who foresaw the Challenger disaster, and the pissed-off guy who wrote to an environmental agency about a dam. I rarely listen to audio books, as my mind wanders and I lose thread of what is said, but the audio book version of this book was excellent as the letters were narrated by some of my favorite actors and actresses such as Olivia Colman, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, Gillian Anderson and others. Although they only existed for seven years and released just three albums, Nirvana were a band of immeasurable influence in the music world thanks in no small part to Smells Like Teen Spirit, a single track on Nevermind, their second album. Página a página vas descubriendo eventos históricos que desconocías o personaje que aludían tu atención. Illustrated with colour facsimiles of the original letters, it includes Richard Burton's farewell note to Elizabeth Taylor on their divorce, David Bowie's touching reply to his first American fan letter, and the final missive from a doomed Japan Airlines flight.

In Letters of Note: Sex, Shaun Usher collects together some of the most noteworthy missives ever written on the subject, from euphemism-laden, flirtatious exchanges and desire-driven expressions of passion to sincere and thoughtful meditations on the meaning of sex. And on the pages where letters could not be reproduced in their original form, Usher has included some stunning photographs of the correspondents. Usher provides the text separately so reading the content isn't an issue - I'd just love to see more of the letters themselves so I can treasure them even more.