old letters

A few years ago, I went to a house clearance sale. I went there initially to take photographs, as at the time I was working on a collection of photos of car-boot sales. 

Unfortunately, I couldn't find what I was looking for, although in one of the bedrooms I discovered an old cardboard box (which to my delight and excitement) was filled with dusty old letters. 

I came to an arrangement with the house-holder that I could 'borrow' the letters for what I described as 'research'. I planned on reading the letters to see whether they would inspire any illustration work.

At the time I was commuting to London on a daily basis, and my 3hr journey (each way) would provide me with the opportunity to read through this 'real-life novel'.

I say real-life novel as that's what these letters turned into. They were the accounts of one man's life. The letters were dated from the 1940's (his teenage years), to his death in the 1970's. 

Each letter was beautifully hand-written, in brown ink and wax-sealed in envelopes which still had the original stamps affixed. They were not only beautiful as objects themselves but also for the exquisite writing contained within.

I quickly became absorbed with the documentation of this man's life, and started to create connections with the people and scenarios mentioned in the letters.

Each letter was written to his Mother, and contained everything from the mundane, family news and gossip, friends, parties, new cars, holidays, relationships, health, marriage, births and deaths. 

Eventually,  I had to return the letters to the family and unfortunately was told that I would not be able to use them as part of my project. 

Whilst writing about these letters in this blog, I cannot mention any names, due to privacy concerns. However, I do want to share with you some of the wonderful moments which I discovered about this one man and his letters to his Mother.

I have copies of some of these letters, of which I will be posting to this blog in due course. 

Thankyou.