![]() She has gone to visit her grandmother and left her own writing desk at home. This care becomes especially evident in an 1836 letter to Emma, which Eliza begins by acknowledging that this letter will not live up to her standard. ![]() Eliza’s letters are thoughtful and witty, and she and Emma corresponded regularly from at least 1835 until Eliza’s death in 1837.Įliza, like other nineteenth-century women, took pride in the appearance of her letters. Eliza was close friends with Emma Nicholas (1816-1866), a member of the Hoffman family. Cortlandt Schuyler Van Rensselaer.Įliza Storrs (1814-1837) is a primary correspondent in the Hoffman collection at Historic Hudson Valley. Historic Hudson Valley (VC.95.19 a-o), Gift of Mrs. Mahogany, steel, leather, mother of pearl, silk, wool and other materials. Wherever a woman went, she could take her writing desk with her and access the tools she liked to use. Writing desks were portable, so they could be carried from room to room inside a house or packed with the luggage for traveling. Women could use the compartments inside to store their writing tools: pens, paper, letter openers, scissors, and ink. The Victorian writing desk was a small box with a sloped lid that doubled as a writing surface. Writing attractive letters was so important that women had a desk dedicated to the task. A letter folded tall is ridiculous, and one verging towards squareness looks very awkward.” A woman who made crisp folds prevented her letters having “an irregular, unsightly appearance.” Miss Leslie’s Behaviour Book reminds ladies that “in folding a letter, let the breadth … far exceed the height. Etiquette books encouraged neat handwriting and modeled the proper way to seal and address a letter. Nineteenth-century women valued the appearance of letters. Each physical element of a letter suggested the value a woman ascribed to letter writing, the money she could spend on materials, and the care she took in her writing process. They might spray perfume on a letter or use high-quality paper. Nineteenth-century middle- and upper-class women could choose the stationery they wrote on, the ink they used, and even how their handwriting looked. The appearance of her letters also tells us something about her. The Importance of Writing Desks in Letter-Writing Cultureīut we don’t only learn about a woman from the content of her letters. We can learn about her personality, interests, and values, and get a sense of how she wanted her recipient to understand her. The details a nineteenth-century woman included in her letter, the stories she told, and the information she omitted all tell us something about that woman. When women write letters, they make choices about how to represent themselves. And each of the things I write will tell my friend more about me: who I am, what I value, and what I think about. I might apologize for taking so long to reply to her letter. I might wish we were closer so we could see each other more. And then, with the friend I’m writing to in mind, I might tell her how I’ve spent my week, ask questions, or share the juicy piece of gossip I picked up at a party the other day. When I sit down to write a letter, I start by writing the name of my recipient. Margaretta (Happy) Rockefeller Women’s History Institute Fellow, Historic Hudson Valley, 2021 By Morgan Graham, PhD candidate, University of Minnesota
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |