Written, folded, and moved (within the postal systems), is one part of the story. At the other end, the #HistoryOfReading starts. Letters were popular goods bringing news, and emotions, and new data. The contents were read, reread, read aloud and silent, alone and in company. Important letters were even stored.

Among the many established and common paper practices in early modern Europe, rereading letters was a thing. Especially private letters were among the most read, and re-read, texts.

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on 4 April we will welcome (online) Emmanuelle Chapron (Aix Marseille Université/Ecole pratique des hautes études) on The loan registers of the Royal Library of Paris (18th c.): a history of readers, books, and institutions.
@labnf #historyoflibraries #historyofreading #histoiredesbibliotheques #histoiredelalecture #histodons #Paris

➡️ information and registration here https://ies.sas.ac.uk/history-libraries-seminar