Pros: A beautiful little book full of lovely, romantic letters
Cons: none
The Bottom Line: The perfect size to fit into a Christmas stocking, Valentine, or greeting card, and would be especially appreciated by a romance-challenged beau, or someone needing help writing love letters.
bartzone's Full Review: Love Letters: A Romantic Treasury
Love Letters: A Romantic Treasury
Sue's Pre-Ramble
One of the things I really enjoy is collecting miniature, or at least very small, books. Most of them are about two and a half inches by three inches, are hardcover, and have a dust jacket. Many of them are full texts of larger books, while some just contain excerpts. I have so many that my Househusband had to build me a bookcase to hang on the wall which holds these treasures. Over the years, I have received many of them as gifts for birthdays, Mother's Day, or Valentines, and a great deal of them have been found in my Christmas stocking like Love Letters: A Romantic Treasury by Running Press, and illustrated by Rick Smith.
Chapters
Introduction - A beautiful description of love letters and how they touch not only the lovers involved, but if saved, future generations as well. It then describes the bits of letters and poems in the rest of the book. It begins with a quote from Sir Walter Scott, "One knows them without opening--they are always folded hurriedly and sealed carefully."
Declarations of Love- Ah, sweet new love... Here are poems and notes sent to (mostly women) loves from their celebrated lovers. The recipient is always noted in the book when known. It begins with an observation by Mortimer J. Adler that it's the one time we truly read. He says, "...They read every word three ways; they read between the lines and in the margins..." My favorite bit is from a letter to Fanny Brawne from John Keats who says in part, "I never knew before, what such love as you have me feel, was..."
The Power of Love - And then it sustains us...There are missives sent and replied to from Katherine Mansfield and John Middleton Murry, among others. I love this bit from Sarah Bernhardt to Victorien Sardou: "Your words are my food, your breath my wine. You are everything to me."
Reminiscences - Many famous couples are represented here, but the sentiment that touched most was written very simply by Robert Frost, "She has been the unspoken half of everything I ever wrote, and both halves of many a thing..."
Forever Yours -
Illustrations
Not that the poems aren't great, but this is where Love Letters: A Romantic Treasury really shines! There are pages in amongst the poetry that have beautiful collages of hearts, pictures, couples, and flowers.
Who is the Intended Reader?
Anybody in love would enjoy this book. The examples should get anybody well on the way to writing their own romantic missives.
Final Recommendation
This book is the perfect size to fit into a Christmas stocking, Valentine, or greeting card, and would be especially appreciated by a romance-challenged beau, or someone needing help writing love letters.
Love Letters: A Romantic Treasury
Running Press, 1996
Hardcover (with dust jacket), 130 pages
ISBN 1-56138-689-8
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