“The Lost Art of Letter-Writing” (An article appearing in The Nation on November 11, 1897)

Over a century ago, some people feared that the venerable practice of writing letters was doomed. One culprit – a shocking advance in technology. “The fact is the telegraph has killed letters.”   The editors of The Nation saw the risk, but still had hope. They believed the “long and tiresome letter…may have gone” but that letter-writing as “an art…cultivated by the discerning” would continue.