Now That Is How You Write a Love Letter

They met in Paris in 1932. Both already married, American novelist Henry Miller and Franco-American diarist Anaïs Nin began an intense love affair leading to some of the most passionate letters ever written… August 14, 1932 Anaïs: Don’t expect me to be sane anymore. Don’t let’s be sensible. It was a marriage at Louveciennes—you can’t dispute…

Literally the Best E-Cards on the Internet

Seriously, we need to stop Facebook-ing our loved ones for their birthdays or when the holidays come around. But if you type E-card into Google, you’ll probably be faced with a lot of options that make you think you might just be better off posting on their Facebook wall. Enter Paperless Post. A beautiful e-card…

Fitzgerald’s First Love: Literary Muse or Victim of Plagiarism?

Like her mother and grandmother before her, Ginevre King was named after Leonardo Da Vinci’s portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci. And she had many parallels with the Italian aristocrat: King also came from immense wealth and would be most remembered for how she was depicted by one of her era’s most famous creatives, in her…

Curiosity du Jour: Antique Intaglio Seals

When we stopped writing letters, it wasn’t just our penmanship that went down the toilet, but the entire art of letter-writing, and all the romance and ceremony that came with it. Arguably the loveliest victim to have disappeared from our desks in the wake of its decline? The intaglio seal. Intaglio seals, essentially engraved gems,…

Conscience Letters from the Cursed Thieves of Triassic Park

In the archives of a small museum in the middle of nowhere, there are piles and piles of letters from remorseful senders dating as far back as 1938. These letters were accompanied in the mail by returned pieces of petrified wood, stolen from Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park. Believing they are cursed and condemned by the karma of ancient…

Here, here, an Archive dedicated to the Private Vintage Letterheads of Notorious Names

What would it be like to receive a letter from David Bowie or Nelson Mandela? Thanks to a Tumblr called Letterheady, with an archive of vintage letterheads belonging to various legends, icons and infamous characters through history, we can get a peek into the private world of their writing desks when letters were still king. I…

The Envelope Collector

I‘m just discovering I have a bit of a thing for vintage envelopes– I think it’s the way they get my mind wondering about what they once contained. Considering the contents of an envelope makes it into something far more intimate and personal and photographer Andrew Bush‘s fascinating collection does just that. The carefully considered…

Vintage Envelope Art was Awesome

What a rare treat it would be to receive something like this today. It certainly makes emailing look pretty souless in comparison. I’ve come across wonderful collection of French letters and envelopes, romancing the lost art of doodling! Pierre-Stéphane Proust has been collecting these delicate novelties of the past and organising exhibitions for over 30 years. Browse the rest…