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The Properly Furnished Writing Desk

The Properly Furnished Writing Desk-The Properly Furnished Writing Desk Among the many delightful furnishings found within the old fashioned home, the writing desk was an elegant and tasteful fitting, valued for keeping the ladies writing accessories tidy and in order. And though some were content with a common library table, with a flat tabletop and drawers beneath for holding writing accessories and various miscellany, many preferred a more elaborate piece commonly known as a “secretary,” with which to place in their thoughtfully appointed drawing rooms. These lovely pieces, which also doubled as a writing desk, book case and display case for one’s most treasured collectables, were often decorated with hand carvings, pediments, and detailed wood work. When a desk was needed, a small surface folded down revealing many and varied cubbyholes and compartments for storing letters, writing utensils, and nick knacks commonly used in that day. When not in use, the writing surface folded up to conceal the secretary’s contents and stood as a graceful and much favored furnishing in the old fashioned home. Because ladies often possessed an impressive mastery of elegant script and prose, they frequently collected beautiful writing instruments to create fanciful letters of correspondence and to tend to the affairs of the home. In their properly furnished writing desk, ladies often kept writing essentials such as fine glass dipping pens, a generous supply of brass nibs, fine inks in assorted colors such as turquoise, tobacco, and indigo, along with a lovely ink well to keep them safely stored in. Found there also were collections of fine stationary, pretty note cards for quick correspondence, decorative letter openers, envelopes, postal stamps, and calendars as well. Her plants, her books …her writing desk …were all within her reach… she could scarcely see an object in that room which had not an interesting remembrance connected with it. —Jane Austen The Art of Composing A Well Written Letter I love to write to you—it gives my heart a holiday and sets the bells to ringing. —Emily Dickinson to Minnie Holland In earlier years, ladies held very particular ideas about the propriety of their letter writing and correspondence, and often observed the standards prescribed by favored etiquette manuals and lady’s periodicals of their day. Still considered the height of good manners, the following suggestions are as timely today as they were a century ago. Letter writing… is a very different affair. Its beauty consists in its simplicity, ease, and freedom from formality. The best rule that can be given for letter writing is, to imagine the person present who you are addressing, and write just what you would say in conversation. All attempts at effort, in letter writing, are out of place. The detail of particulars, such as your correspondent would be interested to know, and the expression of your own feelings, are the great excellences of this kind of writing. —How To Be A Lady, 1850 When composing a handwritten letter, ladies often slipped away to a quiet location, either seated at their writing desk or an amiable cushioned chair pulled close to a cozy fire, allowing them peace and solitude with which to gather their thoughts and to translate them onto the pages of their writing papers. A balanced and comfortable writing utensil was always chosen, allowing them to inscribe in their loveliest penmanship, and a cup of hot tea was kept close at hand to refresh them between “pretty thoughts and friendly salutations.” Thank you for my dear letter, for the love it bore me, and for its golden thoughts, and feelings so like gems. —Emily Dickinson to Susan Gilbert Dickinson, February 1852
The Properly Furnished Writing Desk-The Properly Furnished Writing Desk Among the many delightful furnishings found within the old fashioned home, the writing desk was an elegant and tasteful fitting, valued for keeping the ladies writing accessories tidy and in order. And though some were content with a common library table, with a flat tabletop and drawers beneath for holding writing accessories and various miscellany, many preferred a more elaborate piece commonly known as a “secretary,” with which to place in their thoughtfully appointed drawing rooms. These lovely pieces, which also doubled as a writing desk, book case and display case for one’s most treasured collectables, were often decorated with hand carvings, pediments, and detailed wood work. When a desk was needed, a small surface folded down revealing many and varied cubbyholes and compartments for storing letters, writing utensils, and nick knacks commonly used in that day. When not in use, the writing surface folded up to conceal the secretary’s contents and stood as a graceful and much favored furnishing in the old fashioned home. Because ladies often possessed an impressive mastery of elegant script and prose, they frequently collected beautiful writing instruments to create fanciful letters of correspondence and to tend to the affairs of the home. In their properly furnished writing desk, ladies often kept writing essentials such as fine glass dipping pens, a generous supply of brass nibs, fine inks in assorted colors such as turquoise, tobacco, and indigo, along with a lovely ink well to keep them safely stored in. Found there also were collections of fine stationary, pretty note cards for quick correspondence, decorative letter openers, envelopes, postal stamps, and calendars as well. Her plants, her books …her writing desk …were all within her reach… she could scarcely see an object in that room which had not an interesting remembrance connected with it. —Jane Austen The Art of Composing A Well Written Letter I love to write to you—it gives my heart a holiday and sets the bells to ringing. —Emily Dickinson to Minnie Holland In earlier years, ladies held very particular ideas about the propriety of their letter writing and correspondence, and often observed the standards prescribed by favored etiquette manuals and lady’s periodicals of their day. Still considered the height of good manners, the following suggestions are as timely today as they were a century ago. Letter writing… is a very different affair. Its beauty consists in its simplicity, ease, and freedom from formality. The best rule that can be given for letter writing is, to imagine the person present who you are addressing, and write just what you would say in conversation. All attempts at effort, in letter writing, are out of place. The detail of particulars, such as your correspondent would be interested to know, and the expression of your own feelings, are the great excellences of this kind of writing. —How To Be A Lady, 1850 When composing a handwritten letter, ladies often slipped away to a quiet location, either seated at their writing desk or an amiable cushioned chair pulled close to a cozy fire, allowing them peace and solitude with which to gather their thoughts and to translate them onto the pages of their writing papers. A balanced and comfortable writing utensil was always chosen, allowing them to inscribe in their loveliest penmanship, and a cup of hot tea was kept close at hand to refresh them between “pretty thoughts and friendly salutations.” Thank you for my dear letter, for the love it bore me, and for its golden thoughts, and feelings so like gems. —Emily Dickinson to Susan Gilbert Dickinson, February 1852
The Properly Furnished Writing Desk

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