First letters in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries / edited by Alain Kerhervé, Catherine Thomas-Ripault.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Kerhervé, Alain, editor.

Thomas-Ripault, Catherine, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Letters--History and criticism.

Letters.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (290 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Newcastle upon Tyne, England : Cambridge Scholars Publishing, [2020]

Summary:

'First letters' can be understood in various ways: as the first letters written by a person, such as the letters of children, or of drafts which were preserved, amended and copied; as the first letter of a particular type, such as an experienced letter-writer's first love letter; and as the first letter to a new correspondent, among many others. The idea of a first letter also suggests a link with the letters that follow: what is the connection between the first letter and those which come after it? Written by academics specializing in letter-writing internationally, this volume examines the letters of various authors, philosophers, and artists, including Benjamin Constant, José-Maria de Heredia, Voltaire, Diderot, Coleridge, De Quincey, and others. It is structured in four sections: letters from youth; first letters in fictional works; the writer's persona; and first letters within correspondence.

Contents:

Intro

Table of contents

List of figures

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part 1

First letter and first writings in the Burney Family Archive

Les premières lettres de Benjamin Constant

Les lettres d'enfance et d'adolescence de José-Maria de Heredia

Part 2

Fourberies épistolaires

Platonic love for beginners

Writing as healing?

Part 3

The first letters in edited collections

Les "premières lettres" de Diderot à Sophie Volland

"Over what place does the Moon hang to your eye, my dearest Sara?"

Part 4

How to Start a Correspondence

Les premières lettres

A la recherche de "la première

Stratégie amoureuse dans les premières lettres de Stendhal à Matilde Dembowski

The first letters written by Unionist and Confederate Soldiers

Bibliography

Contributors.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-5275-5608-5

OCLC:

1175922135