There is something magical about letters that email cannot offer. Forever lost when a shoebox of memories is thrown away, instead of forever on some chilled servers in silicon valley. The history of correspondence is almost as rich as modern history itself. Most letters are quite personal too. So, if you aren’t a big writer yourself (or born in the 90’s), chances are you missed out.

That’s where the site Letters of Note comes in. It’s dedicated to give you ‘correspondence deserving a wider audience’. And that’s about as broad as you can get. From replies to fan mail (Lennon, Iggy Pop, Conan) to correspondence between ‘famous people’ (Bob Dylan and Jeff Buckley) or an instruction to baseball players from 1898 to use less offensive language (see below). Well, you get my drift, there is a lot to read. Just wonderful stuff really. So if you’re ever in need of spending your time online, with this site procrastinating just got better.

My personal favorite letter from the site is one with great historical value. A real important piece of history. It’s from a former slave who writes back to his ‘old master’ who requested him to come back and work on his farm. But don’t take my word for it: read it here!

And don’t forget to keep writing yourself. Because the world would be much less interesting without (handwritten) letters, and – be honest now- who doesn’t get a wee bit excited when they find an old-fashioned envelope with your name on it on the doormat?