What is a letter? It seems that this question can be answered by any student, even the elementary grades, not to mention us adults. At first glance, it seems that there is nothing special in this subject - a leaflet with letters, and that’s all. Well, perhaps, these paper messages can also be twisted into a tube or neatly folded in half or four times.
This article aims to uncover the very meaning of the word "letter." In addition, the reader will receive a lot of interesting information about this method of communication, which is certainly a thing of the past.
General definition of the concept
Let's try to decide what a letter is. According to the data obtained from the modern explanatory dictionary, we can conclude that this is some kind of message, which, as a rule, is expressed in a very compact form and is intended for the exchange of a certain kind of information between institutions, companies or ordinary people.
The content can be completely different, ranging from business to personal correspondence.
Milestones in History
Now writing a letter is not a problem. All that is needed if such a need arose is to pick up a piece of paper (in a box, in a ruler or just white) and a pen. Write - I do not want. But what did people do when they had no paper?
Scientists managed to find out that the very first text messages of the planet were written (or cut out) on some similar medium, for example, on parchment, on a piece of birch bark or on a clay shard.
Interesting and unique clay tablets were found during excavations by archaeologists in Nineveh, which was considered the capital of the ancient and once very powerful Assyrian state. As you know, a powerful fire completely destroyed this city, but the letters of that time, thanks to the material on which they were made, managed to survive to this day. Some of them can be viewed in major museums in London and New York.
Demand today
Modern writing is, as before, a message. However, in most cases it is created and / or sent not by the usual, but by electronic means. Usually by email.
The content has also changed. In contrast to letters of twenty or even thirty years ago, various elements of multimedia can now be attached to it. For example, clips or pictures.
What is a letter? Interesting Facts
Given the long history of this type of communication, it would be surprising if unusual facts had not survived and survived to this day.
According to research, the longest letter can be safely considered a parchment whose length is 10 meters and a width of more than 7 m. In the distant 16th century, a Persian shah, whose name, unfortunately, has not been preserved, sent this message to Turkey to the local Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Those who want to see this message with their own eyes are advised to go to the National Museum of Ankara.
If there is the largest letter, then probably there is the smallest. Here he was just discovered not so long ago, in 1983 in Europe, namely in a special museum of the Stockholm Post. This baby managed to go through all the stages of mail processing without exception. It even has a stamp redeemed with a 1883 stamp. The size of this message is 23 × 36 mm. Unbelievable!
And finally, what is the letter in the opinion of those who amend the famous Guinness Book of Records? Specialists set as a goal to find the most expensive postal message of the planet. After some effort, they still managed to achieve a certain result. The message of Abraham Lincoln to General John Alexander Macklernand turned out to be a real value. It was written back in 1863, and managed to sell it in 1991. By the way, at an auction in New York, an astronomical amount of $ 748,000 was obtained for him. By the way, not everyone knows that for another letter from the American president, a more astronomical amount of $ 3.4 million was raised. This message went to a private collection.