Crafting a quality handwritten letter is an art form – especially nowadays when we so rarely take the time to put ink to paper, attach a stamp, and send our social messages by post. This week in the archives we came across some excellent examples of nineteenth century ‘crossed’ letters, in among new additions to the John Bell fonds.

Crossed letter, 1876.

The technique of crossing perpendicular lines (also referred to as cross-hatched) was a popular method to save on paper and postage costs back in the day.