[mod.comp-soc] Letters and non-electronic communication...

rhorn@infinet.UUCP (Rob Horn) (04/19/87)

[some background; about a year ago in this forum we discussed the 
 creation of the non-textual information that is commonly seen in the
 various computer-based communications we see and their relationship
 to when people used to write letters and didn't have telephone or any
 other form of communication...					--- Dave]

Almost a year ago there was some discussion of old letters, and you
commented that you would be interested in seeing some.  I never got
around to making a selection, and have really given up on trying to
find an appropriate selection to post.  Instead, I suggest reading the
following (I may have botched the titles slightly)

Collected letters of the Continental Congress

This is a huge set of books that contain all of the personal letters
written by Congress members during any of the sessions of the
Continental Congress.  It excludes all the committee correspondence,
and focuses on the person-to-person exchanges on both personal and
political issues.

The collected Letters of Theodore Roosevelt

Actually almost any book titled ``collected letters of X'' would do.
I pick Roosevelt because he is an interesting figure, and he is not a
literary figure.  Most collected letters books are literary figures,
and their writing skills might be expected to be much better.

The massive biography of Winston Churchill that was started by
Randolph Churchill and is now being completed by Martin Gilbert <the
better historian> also contains very extensive collections of letters
by Churchill and others.  The volume covering 1942-1946 was just
published.

				Rob  Horn
	
	      	Infinet,  40 High St., North Andover, MA