Using and Understanding Primary Sources

Parts of a Personal Letter:

From MS 254 Anchram and Elizabeth Evans Civil War Letters, UNCW Center for Southeast NC Archives and History.

1. Heading: Historical personal letters generally include a date and location, usually located in the top right corner of the first page. This information reflects where and when the writer wrote the letter. The location will often be expressed as a city and state, although sometimes a full return address will be included. This is particularly true for letters written home during wars, and the information in the heading can be valuable in tracing the movements of troops over time.
   
2. Salutation: Most personal letters open with a salutation in the top left corner of the first page. The salutation usually consists of a standard phrase such as "My Dear Friend," "Dear [name]," or "Dear Sir." 
   
3. Introduction: When the writer is responding to a letter received earlier, it is common to state that in the opening paragraph. You will often see personal letters open with a phrase such as "Yours of the 24th at hand" or "I received your very kind letter last night." You may also encounter the abbreviations “inst.," "ult.," and "prox.” These stand for the Latin terms “instante mense, ultimo mense, and proximo mense” and they mean “this month, last month, and next month.” If the document you’re transcribing includes a phrase like “Yours of the 14th inst. received,” that means the writer is responding to a letter they received from the addressee on the 14th of the current month.
   
4. Body: The body of the letter consists of whatever information the writer is wishing to convey. When reading historical letters, one thing to keep in mind is that a standard of spelling was not introduced in the United States until well into the 19th century. Before that time, people tended to spell words phonetically, and they continued to do so frequently until compulsory education was established in the 1920s. This means that in many older documents, words are often spelled how they sound, and standardized forms of punctuation and capitalization may be omitted entirely. Sentences, paragraphs, and phrases may be broken up strangely or not at all.
   
5. Cross-writing: Especially in the 19th century, it was common for letter writers to use cross-writing when they ran out of room on a page. Rather than start a new sheet of paper (which was expensive and resulted in increased postage), the writer would turn the letter 90 degrees and continue writing over top of the text they had already written, at a right angle. Cross-writing can be extremely difficult to decipher. We recommend laying the edge of a sheet of blank paper flat against the lines you are trying to read, which may help filter out the extraneous text in the background.
   
   An example of cross-writing from MS 169 St. James Episcopal Church Records, UNCW Center for Southeast NC Archives and History
6. Complimentary Close: Personal letters generally close with a standard complimentary statement in the bottom corner of the last page, such as "Yours very respectfully," "Sincerely yours," or "Yours truly." Formal letters from the 19th century often include the phrase "Your obedient servant." This was a very popular way to close a formal letter for many years, and it is sometimes abbreviated as "Yr. Obt. Svt." or something similar.
   
7. Signature: Immediately underneath the complimentary close, the writer will sign their name, sometimes including their professional title or restating their address underneath the signature.
   

Parts of a Business Letter:

From MS 106 Wallace Murchison Papers, UNCW Center for Southeast NC Archives and History.

1. Letterhead: It is very common for business letters to be typed or written on company letterhead, which is stationery with information about an individual or organization printed at the top, and sometimes the side or bottom. Letterhead often contains a lot of contextual information about a company, such as the names and titles of the company's leadership, the kinds of goods and services it offers, and where it's located. Some company letterhead even includes a photo or sketch of the office building. Be sure to take note of all the information communicated in the letterhead first, especially if you don't know much about the company or the people writing/receiving the letter.
   
2. Heading: For most business letters, a date will appear at the top of the first page (usually on the lefthand side of the page, but sometimes in the top center or top right of the page) indicating when the letter was written. Under the date, the writer will include the name, title, and full address of the person(s) to whom they're sending the letter. 
   
3. Salutation: Beneath the recipient's address, a writer will begin a business letter with a salutation, such as "Dear [name]," "Gentlemen," or "To Whom It May Concern." 
   
4. Body: The body of the letter contains the bulk of the letter's text. This is where the writer communicates whatever information they wish to share in the letter. As with personal letters, when a business letter writer is responding to a prior communication, it is common to state that in the opening paragraph. Business letters often open with a phrase such as "Yours of the 24th at hand" or "I received your very kind letter last night." You may also encounter the abbreviations “inst.," "ult.," and "prox.” These stand for the Latin terms “instante mense, ultimo mense, and proximo mense” and they mean “this month, last month, and next month.” If the document you’re working with includes a phrase like “Yours of the 14th inst. received,” that means the writer is responding to a letter they received from the addressee on the 14th of the current month.
   
5. Conclusion: Business letters will close with a statement such as "Yours," "Sincerely," or "Very respectfully" at the bottom of the last page, followed immediately by the writer's signature and professional title.
   
6. Enclosures: If the writer included any additional content with their letter, such as a document or newsclipping for reference, they will often indicate this both in the body of the letter and in a small appendix underneath their signature. Look for the word "Enclosure" or the abbreviation "Encl." This is an indicator that there is additional content attached to the letter that you will want to read, if available. It's important to note that enclosures do not always survive. Sometimes they are discarded by the recipient, or filed in a separate location by an archivist. Also, you may be reading a copy of the letter rather than the original, in which case the enclosure would not have been included.
   
7. Stamps and annotations: Sometimes a letter continues to be marked up after it has been written or received. Keep an eye out for these additional elements that may add context to the letter:
   • Typist's initials: Sometimes you will see two sets of initials at the bottom of typewritten letters (SMC/jbg) . This means that the letter was dictated by the writer but typed by another person. This was especially common in the early-mid 20th century, when most people weren't trained to type and secretaries and typists were employed to manage a company's correspondence. The initials in uppercase refer to the dictator (usually the person who signs the letter) while the lowercase initials are the typist's. Typists are almost never identified by name in the letters they type, so you may have to do some research to match the initials to a name.
     
   • Stamps: It was extremely common to stamp a letter with the date it was received and responded to. If you see a date stamped on a business letter that differs from the date it was written, you can infer that this is the date the recipient opened it. In the example below, you can see that the letter was received by Carter, Murchison, Fox, & Newton on December 6th, 1963.
     
   • Annotations: Sometimes you will find handwritten annotations on typed business letters. Sometimes these annotations were made by the writer, who thought of something else they wanted to add after the letter was typed. More often, these annotations are notes made by the recipient to indicate actions taken in response to the letter, or to tell their secretary how they'd like the letter to be filed.
       
   • Copies: Similar to present-day emails, if you see the initials "CC" or "BCC" at the bottom of a letter, that means it was copied and sent to additional parties besides the recipient. "CC" stands for "carbon copy" and indicates that the recipient was made aware that other people were seeing the letter. "BCC" stands for "blind carbon copy," which means that other people were sent copies without the original recipient's knowledge. If you're reading a copy of a letter that was sent to a third party, or if you are reading a second copy the writer made to keep for their personal reference, you may notice the word "Copy" stamped in large letters somewhere on the page. Another way to tell if you're reading a copy of the letter rather than the original is the paper it's typed on. Carbon copy paper is extremely thin and slightly transparent, while the original letter would have been typed on regular typing paper, similar to present-day printer paper.