CHAPTER I CHAPTER II CHAPTER III CHAPTER IV CHAPTER V CHAPTER VI CHAPTER VII CHAPTER VIII CHAPTER IX 1 CHAPTER X CHAPTER XI CHAPTER XII CHAPTER XIII CHAPTER I CHAPTER II CHAPTER III CHAPTER IV CHAPTER V CHAPTER VI CHAPTER VII CHAPTER VIII CHAPTER IX CHAPTER X CHAPTER XI CHAPTER XII CHAPTER XIII How to Write Letters (Formerly The Book of by Mary Owens Crowther The Project Gutenberg EBook of How to Write Letters (Formerly The Book of Letters), by Mary Owens Crowther This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: How to Write Letters (Formerly The Book of Letters) A Complete Guide to Correct Business and Personal Correspondence Author: Mary Owens Crowther Release Date: August 2, 2007 [EBook #22222] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO WRITE LETTERS *** Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Jacqueline Jeremy and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net A STAR BOOK HOW TO WRITE LETTERS (Formerly THE BOOK OF LETTERS) A Complete Guide to Correct Business and Personal Correspondence How to Write Letters (Formerly The Book of by Mary Owens Crowther 2 BY MARY OWENS CROWTHER GARDEN CITY PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. NEW YORK CL COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES AT THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The forms for engraved invitations, announcements, and the like, and the styles of notepapers, addresses, monograms, and crests are by courtesy of the Bailey, Banks and Biddle Company, Brentano's, and The Gorham Company. The Western Union Telegraph Company has been very helpful in the chapter on telegrams. CONTENTS PAGE How to Write Letters (Formerly The Book of by Mary Owens Crowther 3 CHAPTER I WHAT IS A LETTER? 1 CHAPTER I 4 CHAPTER II THE PURPOSE OF THE LETTER 6 CHAPTER II 5 CHAPTER III THE PARTS OF A LETTER 1. THE HEADING 10 2. THE INSIDE ADDRESS 12 3. THE SALUTATION 16 4. THE BODY OF THE LETTER 22 5. THE COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE 26 6. THE SIGNATURE 29 7. THE SUPERSCRIPTION 33 CHAPTER III 6 CHAPTER IV BEING APPROPRIATE WHAT TO AVOID COMMON OFFENSES 36 STOCK PHRASES IN BUSINESS LETTERS 38 CHAPTER IV 7 CHAPTER V PERSONAL LETTERS SOCIAL AND FRIENDLY INVITATIONS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 44 THE LETTER OF CONDOLENCE 91 LETTERS OF SYMPATHY IN CASE OF ILLNESS 95 LETTERS OF CONGRATULATION 101 LETTERS OF INTRODUCTION 107 LETTERS OF THANKS 110 LETTERS BETWEEN FRIENDS 118 CHAPTER V 8 CHAPTER VI PERSONAL BUSINESS LETTERS 124 CHAPTER VI 9 CHAPTER VII THE BUSINESS LETTER 135 SALES AND ANNOUNCEMENT LETTERS 146 KEEPING THE CUSTOMER 160 SELLING REAL ESTATE 163 BANK LETTERS 173 LETTERS OF ORDER AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT 182 LETTERS OF COMPLAINT AND ADJUSTMENT 186 CREDIT AND COLLECTION LETTERS 193 LETTERS OF APPLICATION 211 LETTERS OF REFERENCE 217 LETTERS OF INTRODUCTION 220 LETTERS OF INQUIRY 223 CHAPTER VII 10 [...]... side of the letter sheet below the heading, about an inch from the edge of the sheet, that is, leaving the same margin as in the body of the letter The distance below the heading will be decided by the length and arrangement of the letter The inside address consists of the name of the person or of the firm and the address The address should comprise the street number, the city, and the state The state... as a token of culture Some of the letters of our dead great do too often remind us that they were not forgetful of posterity The average writer of a letter might well forget culture and posterity and address himself to the task in hand, which, in other than the most exceptional sort of letter, is to say what he has to say in the shortest possible compass that will serve to convey the thought or the. .. plain sheets of the same size and quality without the letterhead These additional sheets should be numbered at the top The name or initials of the firm or person to whom the letter is going should also appear at the top of the sheets This letter should never run over to a second sheet if there are less than three lines of the body of the letter left over from the first page In the formal official letter,... the name of the firm, its address, and the kind of business engaged in The last is often omitted in the case of widely known firms or where the nature of the business is indicated by the name of the firm In the case of a printed or engraved letterhead, the written heading should consist only of the date The printed date-line is not good To mix printed and written or typed characters detracts from the. .. words in the body or the closing of a letter, as "Resp Yrs." instead of "Respectfully yours." The word "Company" should not be abbreviated unless the symbol "&" is used But the safest plan in writing to a company is to write the name exactly as they write it themselves or as it appears on their letterheads [Illustration: As to the use of the symbol "&" and the abbreviation of the word "company," the safest... typing and placing The matter of correct spelling is merely a case of the will to consult a dictionary when in doubt The proper placing of a letter is something which well rewards the care necessary at first Estimate the matter to go on the page with regard to the size of the page and arrange so that the centre of the letter will be slightly above the centre of the letter sheet The margins should act... firm, and three associations 13 In the case of widely known firms, or where the name of the firm itself indicates it, reference to the nature of the business is often omitted from letterheads 14 Specimens of letterheads used for official stationery 27 As to the use of the symbol "&" and the abbreviation of the word "Company," the safest plan in writing to a company is to spell its name exactly as it appears... growing tendency to omit it The inside address may be written at the end of the letter, from the left, below the signature This is done in official letters, both formal and informal These official letters are further described under the heading "Salutation" and in the chapter on stationery 3 THE SALUTATION Social Letters The salutation, or complimentary address to the person to whom the letter is written,... the place for an important fact It ought in some way to state or refer to the subject of or reason for the letter, so as to get the attention of the reader immediately to the subject It ought also to suggest a courteous personal interest in the recipient's business, to give the impression of having to do with his interests For instance, a reader might be antagonized by Yours of the 14th regarding the. .. discourtesies to the reader And it cannot improve the situation to CHAPTER IV 31 call them to the reader's attention In the matter of abbreviations of titles and the like a safe rule is "When in doubt do not abbreviate." Sentences like "Dictated by Mr Henry Pearson to Miss Oliver" are in bad form, not to speak of their being bad business They intrude the mechanics of the letter on the reader and in so doing they . XIII How to Write Letters (Formerly The Book of by Mary Owens Crowther The Project Gutenberg EBook of How to Write Letters (Formerly The Book of Letters) ,. STAR BOOK HOW TO WRITE LETTERS (Formerly THE BOOK OF LETTERS) A Complete Guide to Correct Business and Personal Correspondence How to Write Letters (Formerly