Tips from famous historical figures on how to write love letters

If there is one skill that has withered in the age of social media, it is letter writing. No joke, people used to take classes on the subject (in between drinking whiskey to cure tuberculosis and wearing leeches to reduce blood pressure). Despite a decline in popularity, nothing says “I love you” on Valentine’s Day like a handwritten love letter.

Telling your partner that you worship the “velvet nights” you spend together, that they give you grace, that their “red rose-leaf lips” should “be made no less for the madness of music and song than for the madness of kissing” gets an extra oomph when it is etched into cardstock. Fancy cardstock and a good ink pen you can buy. For advice on how to best express your love for someone in writing, check out Invaluable’s examples of excellent love letters.