How to Write Letters (Formerly The Book of Letters)

How to Write Letters (Formerly
The Book of
by Mary Owens
Crowther

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Title: How to Write Letters (Formerly The Book of Letters) A
Complete Guide to Correct Business and Personal Correspondence
Author: Mary Owens Crowther
Release Date: August 2, 2007 [EBook #22222]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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A STAR BOOK
HOW TO WRITE LETTERS
(Formerly THE BOOK OF LETTERS)
A Complete Guide to Correct Business and Personal Correspondence
BY
MARY OWENS CROWTHER
GARDEN CITY PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. NEW YORK

CL COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES AT THE COUNTRY LIFE
PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The forms for engraved invitations, announcements, and the like, and
the styles of notepapers, addresses, monograms, and crests are by
courtesy of the Bailey, Banks and Biddle Company, Brentano's, and
The Gorham Company. The Western Union Telegraph Company has
been very helpful in the chapter on telegrams.

CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I

WHAT IS A LETTER? 1
CHAPTER II
THE PURPOSE OF THE LETTER 6
CHAPTER III
THE PARTS OF A LETTER 1. THE HEADING 10 2. THE INSIDE
ADDRESS 12 3. THE SALUTATION 16 4. THE BODY OF THE
LETTER 22 5. THE COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE 26 6. THE
SIGNATURE 29 7. THE SUPERSCRIPTION 33
CHAPTER IV
BEING APPROPRIATE--WHAT TO AVOID COMMON OFFENSES
36 STOCK PHRASES IN BUSINESS LETTERS 38
CHAPTER V
PERSONAL LETTERS--SOCIAL AND FRIENDLY INVITATIONS
AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 44 THE LETTER OF
CONDOLENCE 91 LETTERS OF SYMPATHY IN CASE OF
ILLNESS 95 LETTERS OF CONGRATULATION 101 LETTERS OF
INTRODUCTION 107 LETTERS OF THANKS 110 LETTERS
BETWEEN FRIENDS 118
CHAPTER VI
PERSONAL BUSINESS LETTERS 124
CHAPTER VII
THE BUSINESS LETTER 135 SALES AND ANNOUNCEMENT
LETTERS 146 KEEPING THE CUSTOMER 160 SELLING REAL
ESTATE 163 BANK LETTERS 173 LETTERS OF ORDER AND
ACKNOWLEDGMENT 182 LETTERS OF COMPLAINT AND

ADJUSTMENT 186 CREDIT
AND COLLECTION LETTERS 193 LETTERS OF APPLICATION
211 LETTERS OF REFERENCE 217 LETTERS OF
INTRODUCTION 220 LETTERS OF INQUIRY 223
CHAPTER VIII
THE USE OF FORM PARAGRAPHS 227
CHAPTER IX
CHILDREN'S LETTERS 230
CHAPTER X
TELEGRAMS 236
CHAPTER XI
THE LAW OF LETTERS 247
CHAPTER XII
THE COST OF A LETTER 252
CHAPTER XIII
STATIONERY, CRESTS AND MONOGRAMS 258

LIST OF TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE In the business letterhead appear the name of the firm, its
address, and the kind of business engaged in 11
Letterheads used by a life insurance company, a law firm, and three

associations 13
In the case of widely known firms, or where the name of the firm itself
indicates it, reference to the nature of the business is often omitted from
letterheads 14
Specimens of letterheads used for official stationery 27
As to the use of the symbol "&" and the abbreviation of the word
"Company," the safest plan in writing to a company is to spell its name
exactly as it appears on its letterhead 42
Specimen of formal wedding invitation 48
Specimens of formal invitations to a wedding reception 51
Specimen of wedding announcement 54
Specimens of formal dinner invitations 60
Specimens of formal invitations "to meet" 63
Specimens of formal invitations to a dance 68
Specimens of business letterheads 140
Arrangement of a business letter (block form) 144
Arrangement of a business letter (indented form) 145
Specimens of business letterheads used by English firms 207
Specimens of addressed social stationery 259
Specimens of addressed social stationery 260
The monograms in the best taste are the small round ones, but many
pleasing designs may be had in the diamond, square, and oblong shapes
262

Specimens of crested letter and notepaper 263
Specimens of monogrammed stationery 266
Specimens of business letterheads 267
Department stores and firms that write many letters to women often
employ a notepaper size 270
Specimens of stationery used by men for personal business letters 271

HOW TO WRITE LETTERS
CHAPTER I
WHAT IS A LETTER?
It is not so long since most personal letters, after an extremely formal
salutation, began "I take my pen in hand." We do not see that so much
nowadays, but the spirit lingers. Pick up the average letter and you
cannot fail to discover that the writer has grimly taken his pen in hand
and, filled with one thought, has attacked the paper. That one thought is
to get the thing