Getting the Picture

March 12, 2002 4:28 PM

Getting the Picture at the Smithsonian Archives. Sometimes a bit of doodling can make that note a little more special than the latest syrupy Hallmark design.
posted by Su (4 comments total)

The only disappointing thing about the presentation is that the scans are way too small. The letters could have benefited greatly from being posted at a larger size, so you could actually see what was going on. The images as they are run from 30-50k each, anyway. A little bit of careful optimizing would have allowed them to be a lot bigger and stay around the same size.
Granted, the point is the illustrations, but it would have been really nice to read the letters themselves, too.
posted by Su at 4:32 PM on March 12, 2002

Some presentation on the order of these William Blake publications would be nice, for certain.

(I find this collection of illustrated letters particularly interesting because I illustrate _all_ of my personal snail mail. It seemed only natural when I began sending letters to include some visual expression within...it's rather nice to know I'm not alone in the belief.)

Great link, Su!
posted by Kikkoman at 4:59 PM on March 12, 2002

Eons ago, I had a friend who decorated all his snail mail, really astounding designs and images. I've saved everything he sent, just cause it makes me smile when I run across it again.

Groovy link. :)
posted by dejah420 at 3:19 AM on March 13, 2002

the US postal museum runs a contest called the graceful envelope, although they didn't do one last year :( i guess cuz of anthrax. but yeah some of them are pretty amazing :) and socially conscious, too!
posted by kliuless at 7:07 AM on March 13, 2002