Letters of Note, the book based on the beloved website of the same name, became an instant classic on publication in 2013, selling hundreds of thousands of copies. Many duplicates beautifully convey the peculiar power of handwriting, threatened with extinction in the digitised age.An updated edition of this compulsive collection of the world's most entertaining, inspiring and powerful letters, curated by the founder of the global phenomenon These “time capsules”, as the compiler Shaun Usher describes the letters, are showcased in an aesthetic delight of a book, with many facsimiles of original documents reproduced, transporting us back to moments in the past and bringing them to life in evocative detail. Then there is the desperate message carved into a coconut shell by John F Kennedy, stranded on the Solomon Islands in 1943, which resulted in his rescue. Another ancient one was discovered etched in a layer of birch bark. One letter is imprinted into a clay tablet dating back to the 14th century BC. The fierce urge to communicate is captured not only with pen on paper.
Here is an eclectic mix of love letters (the most poignant being to lost loved ones) fan letters (and a beautiful reply from Iggy Pop to a distressed young fan advising her to “take a deep breath and do whatever you must to survive”) job application letters (one from Leonardo da Vinci written in the 15th century) and rejection letters (some dismissing work that became hugely successful – one, rejecting Fawlty Towers, should buoy the heart of any aspirant scriptwriter).
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