Affectionately Yours

Six Letters, Two Novels & A Mug

My husband, Michael Allen, has been included in a wonderful project organized by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania—The Sketchbook Initiative includes drawings, paintings and sketchbooks collected from fine artists all over Pennsylvania.

Michael contributed a sketchbook as well as a number of drawings, made during his close study of the small farming village of Millbach and so, on Friday we delivered a number of items to Philadelphia. When we arrived at the historical society, we were invited to view some very special items, chosen to match our individual interests. Dr. David Brigham shared acquisitions from Chris Nissen, Thomas Paquette, Larry Day, Ruth Fine, Renee Foulks and Dan Miller (all contributors to the sketchbook project).

For our son, Benjamin, David chose a fascinating day book (kept between 1774-1781) by Philadelphia cabinetmaker, David Evans, as well as beautiful pen and ink drawings from another Philadelphia furniture-maker and, a little copy of The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Companion (1850).

And now, to me…

I am still over-the-moon to have held in my hands, a letter written by Jane Austen to her sister; two letters from Mary Shelley to John Howard Payne; a letter from Charles Dickens to Edgar Allan Poe; a letter from Edgar Allan Poe, seeking funding for his literary magazine, to be edited and published in the city of Philadelphia; and last but certainly not least, a tiny little letter written by Charlotte Brontë.

Jane Austen Letter (Courtesy of Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA)

For nearly two years I have eagerly watched

Bea Stitches

combing through archives, uncovering documents, which bring to life the book guides written by

Simon Haisell

for his ‘Wolf Crawl.’

While this sampling of correspondence is certainly not from Tudor times, having the opportunity to see and touch these handwritten letters—these personal letters—was such a meaningful experience.

Charles Dickens Letter (Courtesy of Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA)

The letter sent by Charles Dickens to Edgar Allan Poe appears to be a sort of apology for Dickens’ inability to aid Poe in financing a publishing project. The letter (sent by Mail Steamer) is addressed to Poe in different handwriting—isn’t that curious?

In another letter, Poe includes a Prospectus for his monthly literary journal, The Penn Magazine. I loved seeing this glimpse into Poe ‘hustling’ to get his work in print. Also, I think he has the prettiest, most delicate, handwriting. Don’t you agree?

Edgar Allan Poe Letter (Courtesy of Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA)

Have you read Frankenstein? I adore Frankenstein. I’ve read it twice—a number of years ago—and intend to read it again soon. In fact, I just picked up a really nice annotated edition a couple of weeks ago at my public library book sale. So, you can imagine my absolute (audible) delight when I held Mary Shelley’s letters to John Howard Payne in my hands. Did you know? He had quite a thing for her.

Mary Shelley Letters (Courtesy of Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA)

If you know anything about the Brontës you likely know their penchant for using tiny script. Charlotte and Branwell are most well-recognized for it, but Emily Jane wrote quite small, too. Some scholars believe she did this so passing siblings could not read what she was writing—of course, we all know that didn’t stop Charlotte from peeking in her desk box!

The letter in the HSP collection measures about 3 x 5-inches and was written in the tiniest, prettiest longhand—on a sort of smooth, creamy pale pink paper. Just lovely!

Charlotte Brontë Letter (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA)

All of you know I am certainly no Brontë scholar. I am (as Ellen Dean might say) more of monomaniac regarding one Brontë and one novel, Wuthering Heights. I wish I could share more with you, about the contents of this letter. While neatly written, it was so difficult to read…and, knowing very little about Charlotte herself, I can not fill in the blanks very accurately.

In other words, to all the Charlotte fans out there…please do accept my apologies. Also: a woman follows me on Instagram and her caption, for nearly every image, begins: I am rubbish at taking photos. I’m going to borrow her caption for this entire post. During this unforgettable experience I was nervously snapping photos with a phone rather than my Nikon. They are rubbish. Forgive me.

Last week I began Chapter 20 of my novel. If you are new here—I’m revising a novel draft I wrote two decades ago. I’m so pleased with this new adaptation of my story. I added a leucistic deer. What’s not to love?

I’m still listening to A.S. Byatt’s Possession (on Libby) and about three-quarters of the way through; I adore it! And, I absolutely need to get my hands on a copy of the book. I bookmarked a number of episodes in the audiobook; and I’m eager to annotate the hard copy. I wonder which Byatt title I should read next?

In preparation for my Autumn 2025 Read-Along I’ve written five essays to accompany the first five chapters. Topics I’ve briefly touched on include: the ‘wuthering;’ fir trees; hawthorn; animal similes and metaphors; gooseberries; coal, peat, and wood; marshes, moorland, bogs; peat preservation of bodies; ghosts; moorland navigation; whin and whinstone; cuckoos; dunnocks; ‘wild, wick slips;’ death and burial; growing up ‘rude as savages;’ witches, wolves and dogs.

Today included a pulmonary specialist, followed by two loads of laundry and a week’s worth of groceries. These days are proving a bit hectic, and I’m not getting as much meaningful writing done as I would like—I’m not even popping into Substack Notes. Unfortunately, when I did visit, I was assaulted with a viral post of a contemporary artist-blogger’s painting of a coffee mug, which has been erroneously attributed to the American artist Edward Hopper.

When I first saw it, it seemed suspect; I fired up Google Lens and its sparkly magic navigated me right to the artist’s blog. I wish I could remember the guy’s name—the artist who actually painted it. I think he titled it something like, “Edward Hopper’s Coffee Mug.” It has somehow morphed into a viral sensation: Coffee Mug by Edward Hopper.

Enough about me. How are you? Well, I hope. Take care & enjoy your week. ♡

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Cover Image: Michael Allen, Laundry Day, 2015, 22 x 24 inches, oil on linen