questions to ask a letter

1. Is this a real letter from one person to another?

--is the author who s/he says s/he is?

--is the recipient who the letter says s/he is?

--in what medium was it composed?

--did the "author" literally write the words, or were there other parties involved?

2. Was any other audience was envisaged?

3. Did the first reader(s) see a single original copy or was the letter "published"?

4. How was the letter preserved?

5. How and when was it collected?

6. What factors influenced the selection of this letter to survive?

--passive factors: loss of other material through neglect, damage

--active factors: conscious selection of a body of material to preserve, copy, transmit

7. When was the letter "published"?

--did it circulate or otherwise attract readers before it was "published"?

--what were the mechanics of "publication"?

--what audience received the "published" version?

8. How is the letter transmitted to us?

9. What process of selection, arrangement, and editing has the letter gone through to get into our printed editions?

10. What modern readers and scholars have influenced the way the letter is presented and/or read?

11. What uses can the letter serve today?

--social history

--political history

--biography

--literary history

--cultural studies