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Event—Adult Education

The Art of the Letter: Letter Writing from the Sixteenth to the Twentieth Centuries

Feb 11, 2020

Early modern letter writing spanned public and private, elite and popular culture, and helped to foster new literary genres like the essay and novel. By the sixteenth-century, the printing press had helped to democratize letter writing . . .

Seminar Description

Early modern letter writing spanned public and private, elite and popular culture, and helped to foster new literary genres like the essay and novel. By the sixteenth-century, the printing press had helped to democratize letter writing: engraved calligraphic manuals and printed guides to letter writing proliferated. Looking at such manuals, along with manuscript and printed letters and epistolary novels, this class will examine how letters were written and read from the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries.

Five sessions. E – $220, R – $242

Jill Gage is Custodian of the John M. Wing Foundation on the History of Printing and Bibliographer for British Literature and History at the Newberry. She holds a PhD in English from the University of London.

Please note: This seminar will take place in the Newberry's ITW Seminar Room, which is designed to conserve collection materials and follows the Newberry's Reading Room Policies. For the security of the Newberry’s staff, visitors, researchers, and collections, we ask you to join our efforts to create a research-friendly environment and to preserve the collections for future generations by adhering to the library’s policies.

Materials List

Required:

  • A free digital course packet of additional material, compiled by the instructor and distributed electronically before the seminar begins.

First Reading:

  • There is no reading assignment for the first class.

Registration Information

  • Online registration opens at 9 am (CST) on Tuesday, January 7.
  • Phone registration opens at 12 pm (CST) on Wednesday, January 8.

Early registration (E) prices are in effect from January 7 at 9 am through January 24 at 4 pm. Regular registration (R) prices are in effect January 24 at 4 pm through the end of the term.

We offer a 10% discount to members, seniors, and students.

***This seminar has been cancelled.

Need Help? Please email seminars@newberry.org.

This seminar is part of the Newberry’s Seminars Program. Learn more about registering for a seminar, program policies and procedures, or teaching a seminar.