A World Revealed in Words

When Maurice Keen introduced the Paston Letters to the readers of History Today in May 1959, the correspondence had already been in print for more than 150 years. The first edition, compiled by the antiquarian John Fenn, had been a surprise bestseller in 1787, a publishing sensation for which Fenn was awarded a knighthood.

But it was not until the end of the 19th century – after the letters themselves had been lost, then dismissed as forgeries, then found again in attics belonging to Fenn’s relatives – that a scholarly edition of more than 1,000 Paston letters and papers was compiled by James Gairdner of the Public Record Office and their use as a key source for the history of 15th century England began in earnest. 

They were not the first English family letters ever written: latemedieval England was awash with correspondence, as the ability to read spread down the social hierarchy and as increasing (though smaller) numbers of people acquired the technical skill of writing with a quill on parchment or paper.