“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” ....Oscar Wilde

Wednesday 27 January 2016

Letters Of Note - Shaun Usher

If you enjoy a good book, writing and receiving letters, then here's something that might interest you.
Before I go any further, I need to say that I am in no way being paid or receiving anything for writing this blog post. 
There now that's out of the way... let's get to the really interesting stuff.
Last weekend I received a wonderful birthday present of a hard-backed book
 'Letters Of  Note' - correspondence deserving of a wider audience.
'Letters Of Note' is a collection of over 100 of the worlds most entertaining, inspiring and unusual letters. I'm slowly working my way through the fascinating letters and with each turn of the page there's the power of the written word. 
They capture the humour, seriousness, sadness and brilliance that make up all of our lives.
I don't want to give too much away, but I can honestly say it's one of the most interesting, page turning and fascinating books that I've ever come across. 
There are copies of Virginia Wolf's heart-breaking suicide letter, Queen Elizabeth II recipe of drop scones sent to President Eisenhower, Gandhi's appeal for calm to Hitler, to Leonardo Da Vinci's remarkable job application letter along with many more.
Each page has a detailed synopsis of the letter, details of the sender, recipient, date and reason for the note. Then a typed letter (which with some of the historical hand-writing is necessary...well it is in my case) and finally a photocopy of the original letter or note.
The handwritten or typed letters and photographs have all been collated by Shaun Usher who is a writer and sole custodian of the blog http://www.lettersofnote.com
The popular website has been visited over 100 million times to date.
'Letters Of Note' is Shaun's first book and was published by Unbound in 2009. 
The follow up volume of 'More Letters Of Note' was printed last year.
It obviously must be a labour of love, to be the sole custodian of these amazing snippets from history and it's a real privilege to see and read such an entertaining, unusual and inspiring collection.
I will now put the second book on my wish list.
Happy Reading!

6 comments:

  1. that sounds absolutely wonderful reading!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is Laurie,
      I'd seen my daughters copy and thought it looked fascinating, although I hadn't even read one letter.
      So she decided to buy me my own copy for my birthday. I haven't had much reading time lately, but it's perfect to just nip into whilst having a cuppa. You never know who might have written the next letter or what comes next. I love it!

      Delete
  2. Very interesting. I would love to see them, also.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for sharing with us about this interesting book. I'll go check out the website.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am signed up for their emails--or was. Haven't gotten any for quite a long time. Maybe they quit after the book was published? Fascinating letters!! Would be a wonderful read. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. This does look right up your alley smart lady! I read every day but I am kinda into Anne Perry right now. I am not gaining words of wisdom from great people but Hester and Monk have become great friends!
    sandy xx

    ReplyDelete

I get so excited to see you here and love to read your thoughts and comments.
I always try to answer each one personally (I think it's only polite)
...♥...I truly appreciate your precious time here so thank you ...♥...

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...