The History Book Club discussion

Here is an interesting little site with many interesting letters written by famous people:

http://www.lettersofnote.com/p/archiv...

Thanks Bentley what a great site

You are very welcome..I think it is a tremendous resource.

Some of my favourite historical letters are:


by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

by Napoleon Bonaparte

Thank you Max for these additions.

No problem, I think they are very insightful and candid documents that are fascinating to read of you want to observe the true nature of such figures.

On the topic of historical letters, are you familiar with a compilation of letters, i.e. "The Book of War Letters: 100 Years of Private Canadian Correspondence" by Audrey and Paul Grescoe?

See: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14....

Gerry, looks like an interesting book, thanks for adding it. In accordance with our club guidlelines however, please also post the book cover, author photo (when available) and author links using the add book/author feature in goodreads. Like this:
by Paul Grescoe

If you have not already done so, please review our club guidelines and pop over to the introduction thread to introduce yourself to the club's members. Thanks!

by Jane Austen

If you are a fan of Jane Austen this book of her surviving letters will give you a glimpse of the witty and often acerbic woman who wrote so beautifully. Most of her letters were to her sister Cassandra, who destroyed many of them but there are also letters to other family members and friends. They are full of gossipy detail and intelligent commentary on the times in which she lived. Jane comes to life in these personal writings which I imagine she thought no one but the recipient would ever read.

by Flannery O'Connor

If you are a fan of the brilliant Southern Gothic writer Flannery O'Connor, these just may be a must-read. She was a prolific and thoughtful letter writer. The correspondence includes letters to fellow authors, friends and fans. Many of the letters discuss her struggles with a particular book or story. If you are not a fan of Flannery O'Connor, you may become one after you read these letters. O'Connor was a devout Catholic and people who are interested in the Catholic faith should find these letters fascinating and often moving.

If you are attracted to the early roots of American patriotism and enjoy Samuel Adams, then three volume set of "The Life and Public Service of Samuel Adams" will provide plenty of reading. The volumes contain a large collection of full length letters including four formal letters from John Adams and other letters from historical figures such as Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Adams. There are also many letters addressed by Samuel Adams including his last known letter, one to Thomas Paine on November 30, 1802 talking about Common Sense and more.

I could not find the post for the first printing. William V. Wells

Saul Bellow: Letters

by Saul Bellow

Synopsis

Saul Bellow was a dedicated correspondent until a couple of years before his death, and his letters, spanning eight decades, show us a twentieth-century life in all its richness and complexity. Friends, lovers, wives, colleagues, and fans all cross these pages. Some of the finest letters are to Bellow's fellow writers-William Faulkner, John Cheever, Philip Roth, Martin Amis, Ralph Ellison, Cynthia Ozick, and Wright Morris. Intimate, ironical, richly observant, and funny, these letters reveal the influences at work in the man, and illuminate his enduring legacy-the novels that earned him a Nobel Prize and the admiration of the world over. Saul Bellow: Letters is a major literary event and an important edition to Bellow's incomparable body of work.

Famous love letter to his "Immortal Beloved" by Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), one of history's most famous and mysterious composers died at the age of 57 with one great secret. Upon his death, a love letter was found among his possessions. It was written to an unknown woman who Beethoven simply called his *Immortal Beloved.*

The world may never put a face with this mysterious woman or know the circumstances of their affair and his letters are all that is left of a love as intensely passionate as the music for which Beethoven became famous. Compositions such as the Moonlight Sonata as well as Beethoven's many symphonies express eloquently the tragedy of a relationship never publicly realized.

July 6, 1806

My angel, my all, my very self -- only a few words today and at that with your pencil -- not till tomorrow will my lodgings be definitely determined upon -- what a useless waste of time. Why this deep sorrow where necessity speaks -- can our love endure except through sacrifices -- except through not demanding everything -- can you change it that you are not wholly mine, I not wholly thine?

Oh, God! look out into the beauties of nature and comfort yourself with that which must be -- love demands everything and that very justly -- that it is with me so far as you are concerned, and you with
me. If we were wholly united you would feel the pain of it as little as I!

Now a quick change to things internal from things external. We shall surely see each other; moreover, I cannot communicate to you the observations I have made during the last few days touching my own life -- if our hearts were always close together I would make none of the kind. My heart is full of many things to say to you - Ah! -- there are moments when I feel that speech is nothing after all -- cheer up -- remain my true, only treasure, my all as I am yours; the gods must send us the rest that which shall be best for us.

Your faithful,
Ludwig

The love affair between the "Welsh Wizard", British Prime Minister David Lloyd George and his mistress Frances Stevenson was a public secret (he even took her with him to Versailles during the treaty negotiations). This book explores that relationship through letters exchanged between the two. An interesting sidelight in the life of one of the most well known British PMs.

by John Campbell (no photo)

Synopsis:

In the summer of 1911 David Lloyd George, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, hired a young schoolteacher called Frances Stevenson to tutor his daughter in the summer holidays. He was forty-eight, and married with four children. She was twenty-two, highly intelligent as well as very attractive, and Lloyd George soon began to employ her as his secretary.

At the beginning of 1913 they became lovers, on terms spelt out by Lloyd George with ruthless clarity. Their secret relationship was to last for thirty years until his wife's death finally allowed Lloyd George to marry her in 1943.

Combining sex, romance, family feuds and high politics- based on letters, diaries and a vast range of material, published and unpublished - If Love Were All... is the first detailed study of this extraordinary relationship, one that was known about by everyone in politics but never revealed in the press, and the strains that it placed on both parties

Thank you Jill.

This site gives the text of what they call Six Open Letters That Changed the World. Pretty interesting with epistles from people ranging from Martin Luther King to Sigfried Sassoon.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/20427/...

I read that the love letters between Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh are being auctioned off. They are extremely intimate and sensual and were never meant to be read by any one else. I don't know how I feel about selling this type of personal correspondence. Anyone have any comments?