Some time ago I heard of a practice called "letter crossing." I stumbled across this bit of trivia online while learning a little bit about Jane Austin who is said to have crossed her letters at times. For those of you who have never heard of letter crossing, it was a practice of writing over a letter in a different direction. Once upon a time when paper was even more expensive than good paper is today, letter writers would sometimes cross their letters for the sake of economy. Postage also was expensive in the 19th century and was paid by the recipient (in England, anyway), not the sender as it is today. I've wondered how such a letter could be read and imagined a confusing jumble of ink. Only recently have I been able to find an example of a crossed letter. I share it with you now. I notice the writing is small and the lines very straight and not too close together. I can not quite make out the writing from the picture but perhaps a real life letter wouldn't be as difficult to read as I had imagined.
4 Comments
5/22/2011 12:42:21 pm
Thanks for stopping by Misty! I'm glad to know about your blog and have added it to my blog roll. I look forward to getting acquainted with it. Take care!
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Bill Solberg
12/22/2012 10:03:06 pm
Thanks for the tip on letter crossing. What is a good address to follow on Twitter?
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12/23/2012 09:55:02 am
Thanks for stopping by, Bill. Were I not the worst of Twitterers (tweeters?) I'd give you my address. If you're looking for a letter writer who tweets regularly @MissiveMaven, @LandJMagazine or @_LWA may be of interest to you. You can also try @LetterMatters of course, but I'm afraid I will prove to be disappointing.
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