In an anonymous post about a collection of letters (whose original source was unfortunately lost1 on the Internet), someone described the letter as a literary genre in the following words:

 

“Private letters as a literary genre are perhaps closest to ‘essay’, that which is literally ‘to try.’ Letters try to communicate; they’re a genre for pleasure and leisure; meandering is tolerated, even welcomed. Even Amazon™ ranks the sales of letter collections under a category ‘Letters & Correspondence’ a subset of ‘Essays & Correspondence’. However, unlike essays, most letters are not written for publication. This is especially true if we extend the definition of letter to those we ‘pen’ to friends and family via email. Yet the letter is a genre whose final public or private fate depends on the significance, judged by others, of the author and/or recipient.”

 

This interesting comment highlights many of the most important aspects of the letter as a literary genre. Today, we seldom use the letter for private conversation. The email has taken over as a means of day to day communication. But in the past, correspondence between individuals was rich and sustained. Many collections of letters have been published over time and reveal private, even intimate details about the life of their writers.

 

For example, reading the correspondence of Mozart opens windows to his life and personality, but it also gives us a glimpse at the customs of the time during which he lived. As such, letters are important witnesses to the past; they are a doorway to the past.

 

Many of the collections of letters published over time use a title including the words “a life in letters”:

 

1. Mozart: A Life in Letters

2. The Letters of Vincent van Gogh

3. George Orwell: A Life in Letters

4. The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien

5. A Life in Letters: F. Scott Fitzgerald

6. Graham Greene: A Life in Letters

7. Thinking of Home: William Faulkner’s Letters to His Mother and Father, 1918-1925