The valediction "Most Humble and Obedient Servant" was commonly used at the end of a letter just before the signature. Point 4th Septr 1782. While this is now considered very archaic and formal, we still use it today in an abbreviated form.
— , most gratefully and faithfully yours (Miss Mitford); I am, my dearest friend, most affectionately and kindly yours (John Adams to his wife); Believe me always your affectionate father (Sir Walter Scott); Yours very sincerely (Hannah Moore); Your obliged and affectionate friend (Bishop Heber); Sincerely and entirely ...
Quill pens were made from birds' wing feathers, usually geese. The number of quills required to keep an American colony writing was formidable, often numbering in the thousands for a writing master at a large school. Gum sandarac, harvested from an African tree, was used to prepare the paper to absorb ink more evenly.
' for Gentlemen, nor 'Dr. ' for Dear. For a letter addressed to a married woman or a single woman not young, the proper salutation is Madam, Dear Madam, or My Dear Madam.
The valediction "Most Humble and Obedient Servant" was commonly used at the end of a letter just before the signature. Point 4th Septr 1782. While this is now considered very archaic and formal, we still use it today in an abbreviated form.
Letters were often handed directly to captains of ships and boats. U.S. law required captains to deliver all mail to the post office at the first port of entry, but they sometimes were brought to addressees or local posts for delivery.
To seal the outside of a folded letter, letterwriters kept desk seals, or seal matrices, and often had seal or signet rings as well. Individuals often had both official and personal seals for sealing letters, so that the nature of their business was evident to the recipient before opening the letter.
For personal correspondence, note-paper was used. One very popular size was the commercial note, which is slightly larger than today's A7, at about 5” x 8”. This size was used for longer letters, and by men for most of their letter writing (men also used the larger packet note size of 5 ¾” x 9”).
In the early 1800s, before the postal reforms, Americans often sent letters that weren't letters at all, but newspapers they had received in the mail and then resent to distant friends and family.
Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say good night till it be morrow. My necessaries are embark'd: farewell. Adieu!
Conclusion - don't repeat the subject matter. Salute the recipient again if you wish. You may also wish to 'affirm' - state your loyalty, write about the pleasant effects to result from their compliance with your desire (ie: "Believe me your most loyal servant and humble petitioner while I live.").
A salutation is the way you greet, or say hello to, the person you are writing to. A closing is the way you say goodbye to the person you are writing to.
The preferred letter ending phrases for formal, social, or business correspondence are “Sincerely,” “Sincerely yours,” “Very sincerely,” or “Very sincerely yours.” “Kind(est) regards,” and “Warm(est) regards” fill a nice gap between formal and more intimate closings.
A love victorian letter should be written with dignity and express sincere esteem and affection. If your epistle should fall into wrong hands, you would not wish to embarrass your beloved. Unfortunately, laying down rules for writing love letters is nearly impossible.
In British usage, it is traditional to close with Yours sincerely when writing to a named person but Yours faithfully when using the Dear Sir/Madam greeting, but this distinction is anything but crucial. American usage prefers Yours sincerely or Sincerely yours (A) for all business letters.
The process of writing out the final copy of a legal document onto parchment is known as engrossing. Engrossing Hand was similar to Chancery Hand in being round and evenly spaced. This hand was commonly used for deeds throughout the 1800s.
The letter 'O' is unchanged in shape since its adoption in the Phoenician alphabet c. 1300BC.
Horseback Riders
Post riders, the earliest postal carriers in American history, traveled along a system of post roads that the Constitution authorized the federal government to create. The roads connected small post offices, where people would wait in long lines to collect their mail.
By-posts ran between a post road and a town some distance from it. A way-letter went between two towns on the same post road. Instructions were put on the bottom left corner of letters, hence early covers often arrived with 'Cross post' or 'X-post' written on them. (History of the Postal Service .)
Mary's, etc. By the 1860s, mail sent by Pony Express would take 8 days to travel from St. Louis, Missouri, to California. "There are a few persons still living in Sidney who recollect when the United States mail was carried on horseback and arrived once a week.
There are four letters which we don't use any more ('thorn', 'eth', 'ash' and 'wynn') and two letters which we use but which the Anglo-Saxons didn't ('j' and 'v'). Until the late Old and early Middle English period, they also rarely used the letters 'k', 'q' and 'z'.
A valediction (derivation from Latin vale dicere, "to say farewell"), or complimentary close in American English, is an expression used to say farewell, especially a word or phrase used to end a letter or message, or a speech made at a farewell. Valediction's counterpart is a greeting called a salutation.
“Best regards” typically suggests that you respect the recipient, but don't necessarily have a close personal relationship with them. Other similar closings include “best wishes,” “all the best” and “warmly.” More formal closings are “sincerely” or “respectfully.”
The Complimentary Close
The complimentary close is a short and polite remark that ends your letter. The close begins at the same justification as your date and one line after the last body paragraph.