Penning poison : a history of anonymous letters / Emily Cockayne.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cockayne, Emily, 1973- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Anonymous letters.

Hate mail--Great Britain--History.

Letter writing--Great Britain--History.

Hate mail.

Letter writing.

Great Britain.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xiv, 299 pages : illustrations (black and white), maps ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, [2023]

Summary:

"Anonymous Letters is about the disconcerting experience of receiving and first reading an unexpected and unsigned letter. It traces this experience in all corners of English society over the period 1760-1939, uncovering scandal, deception, class enmity, personal tragedy, and terrible loneliness. The cache of letters presented here were mostly handwritten. Some were sent through the post, some delivered by other means. Various letter types are considered, from outright threats to obscene postcards, by way of the sly or simply confusing poison pen letter. Some were accusatory, some were libellous, others bizarre. Anonymous Letters takes the readers to campaigns of writing across Britain, ranging from the Weald in south-east England to the coal towns of the West Midlands, to the rural backwaters of Gloucestershire. Some of the letters were written by disgruntled spinsters, the women usually associated with poison pen mischief, but many others were authored by a wholly different cast of characters. What comes into focus is the diversity of the situations and motives involved in the activity. Part of the history told by Anonymous Letters is technological, for not only does it explain how new postal networks created new interpersonal dimensions, but it keeps tabs on the development of new forensic techniques and the emergence of the expert"-- Provided by publisher.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-289) and index.

ISBN:

019879505X

9780198795056

OCLC:

1365363458