ALTHOUGH it is quite improbable that there will ever be a return to the painstaking, literary art of letter writing, of which we have so many admirable examples in the past, the value of the art as a medium of expressing personality must always be recognized. The force of business competition has introduced short-cuts in business correspondence which are regrettable from a literary standpoint; the universal use of the typewriter has altered conditions; the multiplicity of social demands makes impossible the leisurely written and carefully considered letters between friends which used to be a valued expression of friendship itself. These changes in conditions have been inevitable, but they do not explain the carelessness and the evidences of ignorance of even simple rules of expression and ar­range­ment which are too frequently apparent in the letters even of those whose position in life demands more, in this respect, than they seem able or willing to give. For this reason the present writer does not hesitate to resort to elementary outlines in making clear the basis upon which the art of letter writing rests. {115}

2. If there is no punctuation at the ends of the printed lines, there should be no point used after the date.

3. The number of the day should not be followed by st, nd, rd, d, or th: e.g., 12 March, not 12th March.

II. Informal. — 1. There is considerable latitude in the heading in informal or friendly letters. The address of the writer may be placed at the beginning or the end of the letter, or omitted altogether if well-known to the addressee.

2. The date may be at the beginning or the end, but should never be omitted.

III. Formal. — 1. In formal letters the place and date should be written at the end, on the left. {116}

II. Informal. — 1. The same latitude is allowed here as in the matter of the date. It is customary, however, to omit the address in informal or friendly correspondence.

III. Formal. — 1. The address is always placed at the end in formal letters, on the left, below the place and date. Its ar­range­ment may be blocked15 or en Échelon,15 but this should be the same ar­range­ment as that adopted for the place and the address.

2. In making reply to formal invitations, the address of the addressee is omitted.

2. Ordinarily it should occupy a line by itself, but when the address requires three lines, the salutation may be made a part of the body of the letter, being followed by a colon and a dash: e.g., Gentlemen:—

3. When the salutation is in a line by itself it calls for a comma if the letter is informal, and for a colon if it is formal.

4. The proper form of the salutation is Gentlemen, Dear Sir(s), My dear Sir (if the letter is signed by an individual name), Dear Madam or My dear Madam (to a married or single woman), Ladies.

5. The proper capitalization is here shown.

II. Informal. — 1. The salutation Dear Sir is less formal than My dear Sir, although in England the opposite opinion prevails.

2. The capitalization is the same as in business letters; i.e., the first word and the word which stands in place of the person’s name are capitalized: e.g., My own dear Sister, My dear Aunt Mary, or Dear John, My dear Friend.

3. In an informal letter the comma is usually used after the salutation.

4. Do not use abbreviations in the salutation: e.g., write Dear Doctor Smith, not Dear Dr. Smith.

5. Do not omit the salutatory phrase: Friend James, or Mr. James Smith is too abrupt.

III. Formal. — 1. A letter to the President of the United States or to King George {118} should have the salutation Sir; to the Pope, Your Holiness; to the Vice-President, Mr. Vice-President, Sir; to a duke, My Lord Duke; to a baron, My Lord; to a cardinal, Your Eminence; to an archbishop in England, My Lord Archbishop, in the United States, The Most Reverend ——, Sir; to a bishop in England, My Lord Bishop, in the United States, Most Reverend Sir; to a dean or to an archdeacon, Reverend Sir; to a senator, congressman, mayor, or judge, Sir or Dear Sir; to an ambassador, To the —— Ambassador, Sir.

2. A colon should follow the salutation in formal letters.

2. Avoid such monotonous expressions as the following: (a) Yours, your favor, your esteemed favor; write letter. (b) 12th inst., 12th, recent date; write 12 March. (c) I will say, I would say, I can say; write Allow me to say, or omit it altogether. (d) In reply would say; write In reply I would say, or In reply allow me to say. (e) Same, the same; write it or they. (f) Please find enclosed; write I enclose. (g) Hoping to hear soon, thanking you in advance, awaiting your response, and oblige have all become hackneyed. Omit them unless bearing specifically upon the text of the letter.

3. Do not omit I or We in such expressions as, Beg17 to acknowledge, Have been awaiting your advice.

4. Do not use the first person singular when the letter is signed by the firm name.

5. Do not say the writer in one portion of the letter and I in another.

6. In ar­range­ment, the first line of the text should begin on the line below the salutation, indented about one inch, and each paragraph should be similarly indented.18 Another style, particularly useful when the letter covers several distinct subjects, is to use the reverse indention, with subheads in capitals at the extreme left.19 {120}

II. Informal.20 — 1. However informal or friendly, a letter should tell what it has to say in a straightforward, coherent manner. Apologies for delay in writing, or for anything else except illness, absence from town, or other cause which demands explanation, are wasteful of paper, ink, and the time of two persons.

2. A general fault in informal letters is the paragraphing and punctuation. The writer should remember that he is trying to express to another mental ideas which have no opportunity to become crystallized by the sound of the voice. He should take especial pains to assist his correspondent in assimilating the thoughts which he expresses, by not running different topics together, and by separating phrases and sentences with their proper marks.

III. Formal. — 1. The expedient of writing in the third person is adopted in formal social correspondence.21 Notes of this kind should have no heading, address, complimentary close, or signature. The date alone, omitting the year, is used, being placed at the end on the left. No abbreviations other than Mr., Mrs., Messrs., and Dr. should be used. The date should be spelled out in full.

2. Notes written to tradespeople22 conveying {121} orders or instructions are also frequently written in the third person. In this case, however, the address is always given at the end on the left, and the date, using figures, is also employed. There is no signature.

2. The complimentary close should begin in the middle of a line by itself, below the concluding words of the text.

3. The first word alone should be capitalized.

4. A comma should be placed at end of the line.

5. Do not abbreviate any of the words in the complimentary close. Avoid such contractions as Y’rs for Yours.

6. Expressions used to introduce the complimentary close, such as With kind regards, I am, Believe me, Good-bye, etc., should be treated as part of the concluding line of the text only when closely related to the final sentence; otherwise they occupy a separate line.

II. Informal. — 1. The nature of the complimentary close of informal or friendly {122} letters depends upon the degree of intimacy which exists between the correspondents. The usual forms are, Yours sincerely, or Yours very truly, but they may properly be used as expressions of affection, as Your devoted husband, or Your loving daughter.

III. Formal. — 1. There is no complimentary close to formal notes written in the third person.

2. The complimentary closes to formal letters addressed to persons in high positions are as follows: to the President of the United States, I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient servant; to King George, I have the honor to be, Sir, Your Majesty’s most obedient servant. This form is modified as the rank of the person addressed becomes less important. To a congressman, for instance, one would say no more than, I have the honor to be.

2. Women should always sign their full names or indicate in brackets how they should be addressed. Any one of the following forms is proper:

3. In letters to all except the family or intimate friends the Christian name and the surname should be signed in full.

2. In business letters the word street and the name of the state may be abbreviated, but in formal and informal letters it is better form to spell out in full.

3. Legibility is even more essential in the address than in the letter itself.

4. It is good form to write the street and number or the postoffice box in the lower left-hand corner.

5. The abbreviations No. and # before the figures in the street address should be omitted.

6. In care of should be written out in full.

7. The stamp should always be placed in the upper right-hand corner, as a convenience to the postoffice officials. Care should be taken to affix the stamp neatly, as carelessness in this respect reflects upon the sender.

8. Punctuation may be omitted at the ends of the lines; otherwise use a comma, except at the end of the last line. {124}

9. The title Esq. is more complimentary than Mr., and the former should always be used when addressing men holding a college degree or of social standing. In formal social addresses Mr. (or Dr., etc.) is always used.

10. In addressing envelopes to persons in high positions the following forms should be used: To the President of the United States, The President, Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C.; to King George, His Majesty, the King, London (omit England, as this is considered a provincialism); to the Pope, His Holiness, Pope Pius X., Rome (omit Italy); to a member of the Cabinet, To the Honorable the Secretary of State; to a duke, His Grace, the Duke of ——; to a baron, The Right Honorable, the Lord ——; to a cardinal, To His Eminence, William Cardinal O’Connell; to an archbishop in England, The Most Reverend —— His Grace the Lord Archbishop of ——; to a bishop in England, The Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of ——, in the United States, The Right Reverend (Christian and surname), adding honorary titles; to a dean in England, The Very Reverend the Dean of ——; to an archdeacon in England, The Venerable the Archdeacon (surname); to a senator, congressman, mayor, or judge, Honorable (Christian and surname); to a governor, His Excellency, the Governor of ——; to an ambassador, His Excellency the British Ambassador. {125}

2. Postal cards do not require salutation or complimentary close.

2. Do not practise economy of paper by writing in the margin.

3. Fold the letter so that when taken from the envelope it will open right-side up.

4. Never omit the date from any note or letter, however unimportant.

5. In brief letters the first and fourth or first and third pages may be written upon, leaving the others blank.

6. Avoid postscripts except in an emergency.

7. Unruled paper should be used for all correspondence.

8. Typewritten letters are permissible only in business correspondence, and even in these the signature should be written by hand.

9. Any evidence of haste is a discourtesy. Never sign a letter, Yours in haste.

10. Underscoring is permissible only in informal letters and should be used sparingly.

NORWOOD, MASS.,

12 March, 1912

MESSRS. FREDERICK A. STOKES CO.

443 Fourth Ave.

New York, N.Y.

GENTLEMEN:

Your letter of 11 March is at hand, and we acknowledge receipt of the MS. of “The Writer’s Desk Book,” together with your detailed instructions. The MS. shall be put into type without delay, and galley proofs shall be sent to the author in accord with your advice. We expect to complete the typesetting within two weeks’ time.

Thanking you for the order, we are

Yours very truly,

THE PLIMPTON PRESS