A cross-wise letter , or “ cross, ” or “ along and across ” ( English crossed letter ) is a handwritten letter that contains lines written along and lines written perpendicular to it or diagonally across written [1] .
Content
- 1 History and description
- 2 Interesting Facts
- 3 See also
- 4 notes
- 5 Links
History and Description
Such a way of writing a letter was resorted to in the initial period of the development of mail in an effort to save on the cost of sending the letter , since it depended on the weight of the letter, the distance to which it was sent, the presence of attachments, on whether the text was written on one or two sheets [2 ] .
To pay less for shipping, almost until the middle of the XIX century letters were sent without envelopes . The text was written on one side of the sheet of paper, folded with the text inward, and the address was indicated on the unwritten side. At the same time, sometimes the text of the letter did not fit completely on one side of the sheet, and then, instead of taking a new sheet of paper, the sender turned the written sheet at a 90 ° angle and continued to write on it from top to bottom. At the same time, new lines lay across the lines written earlier. Often, another “layer” of the letter was added, written diagonally at an angle of 45 ° with respect to the first two “layers” [3] .
Some ingenious people went even further and wrote similar letters, overlapping the transverse lines with a different color of ink to facilitate the process of reading the letter to the addressee . It is known, for example, that the brother of the English writer Jane Austen Charles often used colored ink in correspondence with her, pitying his sister: he wrote the first, main, “layer” of the letter in black ink, and crossed lines in red [4] .
Interesting Facts
- The following statement by the English writer Lewis Carroll is associated with the practice of writing letters “cross”:
“My ninth rule: if you wrote the whole sheet of paper to the end and you have something else to say, take another sheet, a whole, or a piece - as needed, but do not write across the already written! Remember the old saying : “What is written not along, you will not read across.” “An old saying? - you ask in surprise. “Is she so old?” I must admit that the adage I quoted is really not that ancient. I'm afraid that I myself came up with it while writing these lines! But still, one should not lose sight of the fact that “old” is a relative concept. ”
Original text"My ninth Rule. When you get to the end of a notesheet, and find you have more to say, take another piece of paper — a whole sheet, or a scrap, as the case may demand: but whatever you do, don ' t cross! Remember the old proverb ”Cross-writing makes cross reading.” “The old proverb?” you say, inquiringly. “How old?” Well, not so very ancient, I must confess. In fact, I'm afraid I invented it while writing this paragraph! Still, you know, “old” is a comparative term. "- Charles Lutwich Dodgson . Eight or Nine Wise Words on How to Write Letters (1890) [5]
The statement was related to a lecture - the pamphlet “Eight or Nine Wise Words on How to Write Letters”, a printed copy of which was attached to the holder of the Wonderland Postage-Stamp Case, invented by Carroll in 1889 [6] . The pamphlet and stamp holder published together were called upon, according to the writer, to promote the writing of letters [7] [8] .
See also
- Hangman (mail)
- Homemade Postage Signs
- History of UK Post and Stamps
- Palimpsest
- Letter
Notes
- ↑ Shanahan, Eunice and Ron. A crossed letter . Chapter 5. Changes under way. Letters from the Past. Postal History . The Regency Collection. - E-book chapter, authors - Eunice and Ron Shanahan (Australia). Date of treatment July 6, 2011. Archived on August 13, 2012.
- ↑ Hick, Graham. The story of the Wyatt crossed letter . Case study . Ancestral Stories; Graham Hicks. - The story of a letter written along and across Wyatt. Date of treatment July 6, 2011. Archived October 27, 2010.
- ↑ Practical Tips for Researchers. Tip # 1 - Photocopying documents . History Hints & Tips . History4U and Temple Local History Group of Bristol. Date of treatment July 6, 2011. Archived on August 13, 2012.
- ↑ Klingel Ray JE Jane Austen For Dummies. - John Wiley and Sons, 2006. - P. 124. - 361 p. - ISBN 0-470-00829-6 . (English) (Retrieved July 7, 2011)
- ↑ Carroll L. Eight or Nine Wise Words on How to Write Letters // The Adventures of Alice : Author. Sat / L. Carroll; Per. from English Yu. Danilova. - M .: Eksmo- Press, 2008 .-- S. 355-377. - ISBN 978-5-699-37572-1 , 978-5-699-17249-8. (Retrieved July 6, 2011)
- ↑ See more about this in the article Klyasser (philately) .
- ↑ Heron FW Lewis Carroll, Inventor of Postage Stamp Case // Stamps. - 1939. - Vol. 26. - No. 12. - 25 March. (eng.)
- ↑ Allen, Roger; Goodacre, Selwyn; Richards, Mark; White, Alan; Partridge, Brian. Carrollian Postage Stamps Inspired by Carroll. Events, People, Places . The Lewis Carroll Society (April 28, 2005). Date of treatment July 6, 2011. Archived February 27, 2012.
Links
- Shanahan, Eunice and Ron. Chapter 5. Changes under way . Letters from the Past. Postal History . The Regency Collection. - E-book chapter, authors - Eunice and Ron Shanahan (Australia). Date of treatment July 6, 2011. Archived on May 14, 2012.
- Vic. Letter Writing in Jane Austen 's Time . Jane Austen's World . WordPress.com Date of treatment July 6, 2011. Archived on May 14, 2012.