Shaun Usher - Letters of Note: Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience

First published in the United States of America in 2014 by Chronicle Books LLC.

First published in Great Britain in 2013 by Canongate Books Ltd. in conjunction with Unbound.

Compilation copyright Shaun Usher, 2013

constitute a continuation of the copyright page.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN: 978-1-4521-3425-3 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4521-4086-5 (epub, mobi)

Book design by Here Design
Cover design by Neil Egan
Cover lettering by Erik Marinovich
Additional typesetting by Liam Flanagan

The moral right of the author has been asserted. While every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright material reproduced herein, the publishers would like to apologize for any omissions and will be pleased to incorporate missing acknowledgements in any further editions.

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107
www.chroniclebooks.com

For Karina

Monday

Dear Reader,

The beautiful book you now hold in your hands is the culmination of an unexpected but wholly enjoyable four-year journey through the letters, memos, and telegrams of the famous, the infamous and the not-so-famousan immensely gratifying project that first took shape as a website but that now, thanks to the overwhelmingly positive reaction to its online incarnation, takes on a physical form: a carefully crafted, book-shaped museum of letters that will grip you and fling you from one emotion to the next, occasionally educate the most informed of minds, and, I hope, perfectly illustrate the importance and unrivalled charm of old-fashioned correspondence just as the world becomes digitized and letter writing becomes a lost art.

One thing that hasnt changed since Letters of Note began is its main objectivethat is, to showcase correspondence deserving of a wider audience. To say Im pleased with the eclectic selection with which you are soon to fall in love would be a huge understatement. The highlights are endless, but let me pluck a handful from the bag to whet your appetite. We have a letter from Mick Jagger to Andy Warhol that contains a wonderfully laid-back design brief for a Rolling Stones album cover; a handwritten note from Queen Elizabeth II to US President Dwight Eisenhower that is accompanied by Her majestys personal scone recipe; a masterful riposte from a freed slave to his old master; Virginia Woolfs heartrending final letter to her husband, written shortly before taking her own life; a beautiful, delicate letter of advice from Iggy Pop to a troubled young fan; scientist Francis Cricks letter to his son, in which he announces the discovery of the structure of DNA; a harrowing account of a mastectomy performed without anesthetic, written by the sixty-year-old patient to her daughter; and a job application letter from one of historys most celebrated minds, Leonardo da Vinci. On your travels you will find love letters, rejection letters, fan letters, apology letters; you will be saddened, maddened, delighted, shocked. One of the letters, imprinted into a clay tablet, dates all the way back to the fourteenth century BC; the most recent is just a few years old. However, despite their many flavors, I am hopeful that all will captivate you as they have me and whisk you to a point on time far more effectively than the average history book. Indeed, I can think of no better way to learn about the past than through the often candid correspondence of those who lived it.

Also important was to do these priceless time capsules justice aestheticallyto make the book a visual treat. This was achieved by working closely with the very best designers, to present each and every letter respectfully and to its fullest potential. Where possible we have located the original documents and gained permission to reproduce facsimiles, offering you the opportunity to see these messages as they were penned, typewritten, or even carved, not forgetting the various smudges, creases, and other imperfections that give the physical letters themselves so much character. Where this wasnt an option, we have sourced photographs, some of which have never before been published, to accompany and complement the transcripts. The end result is a book that I am unspeakably proud to have compiled. My only hope is that it will take pride of place on your bookshelf and be passed to your nearest and dearest. Maybe, just maybe, it will inspire at least a few people to put pen to paper, or even to dust off an old typewriter, and write their own letters of note.

Yours in letters,
SHAUN USHER
Letters of Note

January 24, 1960

Five years into her reign, Queen Elizabeth II made her first state visit to the United States in 1957 as a guest of the then U.S. president, Dwight D. Eisenhower. The favor was returned two years later, in August 1959, when the Queen entertained Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, a grand and sprawling private estate of the Royal Familys since 1852. While discussions took place behind closed doors, this much we know: President Eisenhower quite clearly enjoyed the Queens drop scones, or pancakes. So much so, that five months after serving them, she belatedly sent him her personal recipe and this accompanying letter.

Jan. 24th
1960.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE

Dear Mr. President,

Seeing a picture of you in todays newspaper standing in front of a barbecue grilling quail, reminded me that I had never sent you the recipe of the drop scones which I promised you at Balmoral.

I now hasten to do so, and I do hope you will find them successful. Though the quantities are for 16 people, when there are fewer, I generally put in less flour and milk, but use the other ingredients as stated.

I have also tried using golden syrup or treacle instead of only sugar and that can be very good, too.

I think the mixture needs a great deal of beating while making, and shouldnt stand about too long before cooking.

We have followed with intense interest and much admiration your tremendous journey to so many countries, but feel we shall never again be able to claim that we are being made to do too much on our future tours!

We remember with such pleasure your visit to Balmoral, and I hope the photograph will be a reminder of the very happy day you spent with us.

With all good wishes to you and Mrs. Eisenhower.

Yours sincerely

Elizabeth R

MENU

DROP SCONES

Ingredients

• 4 teacups flour
• 4 tablespoons caster sugar
• 2 teacups milk
• 2 whole eggs
• 2 teaspoons bi-carbonate soda
• 3 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons melted butter

Beat eggs, sugar and about half the milk together, add flour, and mix well together adding remainder of milk as required, also bi-carbonate and cream of tartar, fold in the melted butter.