Sunday, February 4, 2018

A Capital Idea!

During the month of January I read three books from the Oxford Medieval Mystery series by Ann Swinfen.  The first book in the series is The Bookseller's Tale.  The story is set in Oxford in 1353 and the title character, Nicholas Elyot, is a bookseller. The story is a mystery and involves Nicholas discovering a body floating in the Cherwell (but that's not the part that inspired my snailmail).


The book details interesting information about the making of paper and the creation of books during the 14th century. The details were fascinating! The amount of work that went into one volume was incredible.  Just one more reason to be thankful, folks. Digital books!! (Not to mention the printing press.) Anyway, I digress. 

I was inspired by the work of the scriveners in this book. During medieval times books were hand copied by these folks. They were true artists and often added illustrated capitals to start a new chapter. I thought I would follow suit and start my letter with an illustrated capital! 

There are a lot of examples out there to inspire you. I am somewhat limited by my lack of true artistic ability and my tools (I used Crayola markers), but I always feel like the letter is the real gift and any goofy little doodles I draw simply add to the fun. Remember, perfectionism is for those who send no mail! Not only was the illustrated capital a fun artistic element to add to my letter, it was also a nice way to share about the book I read. 


Looking for inspiration for your mail? Maybe it's something from the pages of your books!! So read a book and write a letter.  It's a capital idea! And magical! 

Go postal, everybody!
XOXO
Mrs. Murphy