File:James_Campbell_-_News_from_My_Lad_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ133492· pop 108· linked from 541 articles

letter

Also known as note, epistle, ✉, message, mail, written letter, written correspondence, postal mail

written message from one to another

AI overview

A letter is a written message sent from one person to another, typically on paper. Letters matter because they allow people to communicate across distances and preserve their words in a lasting form.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Wikidata facts

Image: Carta de pedido de intercessão, de Antônio Gabriel de Paula Fonseca a José Vieira Couto de Magalhães, Arquivo Público do Estado de São Paulo.pdf

Show 3 more facts

Commons category: Letters (written messages)
exact match: purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_0857
P8168: Jenson Button

Sources (1)

wikidata.org

via Wikidata · CC0

~22 min read

Article

News from My Lad by James Campbell, 1828–1893 (Walker Art Gallery) A letter is a written message conveyed from one person (or group of people) to another through a medium. Something epistolary means that it is a form of letter writing. The term usually excludes written material intended to be read in its original form by large numbers of people, such as newspapers and placards, although even these may include material in the form of an "open letter". The typical form of a letter for many centuries, and the archetypal concept even today, is a sheet (or several sheets) of paper that is sent to a correspondent through a postal system. A letter can be formal or informal, depending on its audience and purpose. Besides being a means of communication and a store of information, letter writing has played a role in the reproduction of writing as an art throughout history. Letters have been sent since antiquity and are mentioned in the Iliad. Historians Herodotus and Thucydides mention and use letters in their writings.

History of letter writing