Are all of importance, and etiquette has prescribed certain formulas
for these adjuncts of a good letter, that, however the vagaries of
fashion may invade the outer borders of the realm epistolary, are
always correct and in good style.
The paper in best taste is thick, white or creamy-tinted, unruled and
of such a size as to fold once for fitting square-shaped envelopes,
creamy-white like the paper. Never use envelopes so thin in quality as
to permit the writing to be seen through from the outside. The square
envelope is not a necessity; the slightly oblong is also used, the
paper being folded twice to fit this size.
This paper would be suitable and in perfect style in any portion
of the civilized world, and on any occasion, and no one with any
pretensions to good breeding should be found unsupplied. This is an
item in which we cannot afford to economize, for one judges a lady or
gentleman, unconsciously, by the contents of his or her writing desk,
as exemplified by the letters sent from their hands.
Monograms are not entirely “out,” but they are only used by those to
whom their own especial design, through long use, has come to seem
almost a part of themselves. All fleeting fancies in stationery should
be passed by on the other side, or, at most, left to the wayward tastes
of “sweet sixteen,” or to some few whose very eccentricities are
part of their fame. Sarah Bernhardt, for instance, uses blue paper
framed in a pale gray line on the top of the page, and the flap of the
envelope is a tragic mark, above which her initials are traversed by
a scroll bearing her motto, “_Quand méme_.” She is as exact, however,
in the formulas of her letters as any dowager of the old school. The
Royal Highnesses of England use the paper and square envelopes before
described; initials, monograms and crests are left to foreigners and
outsiders, and the Orleans family, of France, are severely plain in
their choice of stationery.
[Illustration: INCORRECT MODE OF HOLDING THE PEN].
[Illustration: PROPER MODE OF HOLDING THE PEN.]
[Illustration: CORRECT POSITION OF THE HAND.]
Given the correct paper and envelopes and plain, jet-black ink
(no other tint should ever be used), the penmanship must next be
considered. It is very well for Madame Bernhardt to write an elegant,
graceful hand that is absolutely impossible to decipher, and for
General Bourbaki to indite his epistles in a microscopically minute
script, but less important people will do well to render their
chirography as perfect and legible as possible, and not to flourish.
Avoid always too near an approach to the clerkly, commercial hand. A
talented foreigner once remarked to the writer upon his astonishment at
the predominance of this hand in America. “I do not like it,” he said;
“the clerk sends me in my rates, the landlord my bill, and the young
lady her reply to my invitation, all in that same commercial hand.
There is no individuality, no character, in such writing.” And there
was too much reason in his remonstrance. We are not quite “a nation
of shopkeepers,” and there is no reason why this business handwriting
should so permeate all classes of society.
The lines should be straight, and as ruled paper is not permissible in
formal notes, invitations or punctilious correspondence, savoring too
nearly of the schoolroom and the counting-house, some little practice
may be necessary to keep the lines even. Should this prove impossible,
let a sheet of paper with heavily ruled black lines that will show
through the writing paper, be kept in the desk and slipped beneath the
page as a guide. It may also be inserted in the envelope to keep the
superscription or address perfectly straight.
[Illustration: PROPER POSITION OF A LADY IN WRITING.]
The lines should be rather far apart, and the fashionable hand just now
is not the pointed English style, but somewhat verging on the large,
round hand of the last century; the ladies, as a rule, indulging in a
rather masculine style.
Thin foreign note paper may be used for letters abroad, unless the
most formal. This is usually ruled. So is the commercial note used for
business letters.
These forms answer for ladies and gentlemen alike. There is no
particular objection to gentlemen using in their informal friendly
letters, business note with printed letter head, but for ceremonious
occasions they must be bound by the foregoing forms.
Very faintly perfumed paper is the prerogative of the ladies. Gentlemen
are denied this privilege and a lady avails herself of it with
discretion, selecting a favorite odor and adhering closely to it, so
that correspondents could tell her missives with closed eyes, by their
very fragrance.
Where black-edged paper and envelopes are used by persons in mourning,
the width of the black border varies according to the nearness of the
deceased relative or the length of time since the loss, though some
never use more than the narrowest line of black, while others still,
with the most perfect propriety, discard it altogether. Its use is
a matter of taste simply, and must cease so soon as the mourning
garb is dropped. Never be guilty, however, of writing a letter of
congratulation on black-edged paper, even if in mourning; use plain
white for this purpose. At the same time, it is never necessary to
write a letter of condolence on black-bordered paper, unless the writer
himself is in mourning.
[Illustration: IMPROPER POSITION. PROPER POSITION.]
The careful writing of a note or letter is a mark of respect to the
recipient, and blots, erasures and mended words should never be
permitted to disfigure it. Erasing cannot be done without marring the
entire page and a mended or rewritten word is an offense to the eye.
To copy the letter afresh is the only real remedy, and those who value
their own standing will not grudge the pains spent in the composition
of a letter that shall be a credit to the writer and a pleasure to the
receiver.
This comes under the general recommendation of doing everything you do
as it ought to be done. There should be no slipshod way of writing a
letter by which you are to be judged.
Figures and abbreviations are often used. Few numerals are allowable,
except the dates, the street number and the hour of the day. Very large
sums of money are also stated in figures unless they begin a sentence,
when all numbers must be written out fully. Figures are also preferable
in uneven sums of money too long to be written with one, or at most
two words; per cent., as well, is rulable in figures. Degrees should
be either written “75°”, or “seventy-five degrees.” Fractions, given
alone, should be in words, and all other numerals occurring in a letter
must follow the same rule, except quotations from stock and market
reports. For extra precaution, sometimes sums of money are written,
followed by figures representing the same, in parenthesis.
Common Abbreviations.
Abbreviations proper to social and formal letter-writing are few in
number. Honorary titles, such as Dr., Prof., Hon., Rev., Messrs.,
Esq., Capt., etc., are usually abbreviated as above, though very
good authorities advocate, and with much reason, the use of the full
word “Reverend,” as also the titles “Honorable” and “Professor.”
The scholastic titles are also abbreviated by the proper initials,
as A. M., M. D., LL.D., following the name. The names of months,
of states, the words “County” and “Post Office,” when used on the
superscription are also abbreviated.
The use of A. M., M., P. M., to mark the divisions of the day,
technical abbreviations, and the usual e. g., i. e., viz., etc., are
too familiar to the users to need mention. Further than the above,
brevity is _not_ always the soul of wit.
The letter itself, as a whole, is now to be considered, and to
facilitate its writing there should be some one corner in every home
devoted to this purpose. The incentive to letter-writing is always
damped, the happy thought we would send our friend takes flight, if
we must find the pens upstairs, the paper down, the ink bottle in the
pantry, empty or not, as the case may be, and our patience wherever it
may be after the search is ended.
[Illustration: A SCRAP OF A LETTER.]
Letters would be more frequently written, more punctually answered, and
half the unreasonable dread of writing done away with, were this matter
attended to properly. Let the writing desk stand in some well-lighted
corner of sitting, dining, or “mother’s” room, and let it be stored
with all articles necessary to the exigencies of correspondence. Should
the desk prove beyond the depth of the family purse, then, let its
substitute be found in a firm, good-sized table or stand, with a drawer
where necessary supplies may be kept. Two or more sizes of note paper,
unruled, with envelopes to match, for the elders of the household;
writing tablets and commercial note, together with plain envelopes,
for the school-children and everyday uses; a good dictionary, a tray
with pen rack and inkstand thereon, and a goodly supply of pens, will
complete a corner that will do more toward the family education in good
breeding and culture than any other expenditure that can be made, and
will render letter-writing the pleasure it should be, instead of the
dread it too often is.
If one possesses a permanent address, street, number and city may, with
great propriety, be engraved on the paper at the top of the sheet. If
this is not done the address should always be written clearly on all
letters. It is too much to expect one’s friends to remember the private
addresses of all their correspondents, and time is too precious to be
spent searching out some missing letter in quest of street or number,
in default of which more than one letter has gone unanswered.
The date of a letter, month, day, year and city is first in place. This
should be written on one line, beginning, according to length, more or
less near the center of the sheet and ending at the right-hand margin.
In business letters, unless the printed letter head fixes the place,
this line should not be more than one-quarter down the page; while in
social or formal letters it should be one-third the distance down. If
it should be desirable to give the county also, the date may be allowed
to occupy two or more lines, as follows:
MENDOTA, LA SALLE CO., ILL., May 29, 189—.
In the same manner a city number and address may be given: