A few years ago, Renaud Morieux, a European history professor at the University of Cambridge, found three bundles of letters in a box in Britain’s National Archives. The letters, of which there were over 100, had remained unopened for nearly 250 years – folded into envelopes and sealed with red wax stamps.
Dr Morieux has recently shared his findings, and I was delighted to speak to Jenny Gross at the New York Times about the remarkable collection of letters, which provide a rare insight into the personal lives of people in 18th-century France.
You can read the article online here (registration required).
Click here to read more about my research into letters and printing.