During personal correspondance by physical mail should one make copies of out bound letters?
This was never my practice. There are two main reasons that I think this is an important step. Number one is that if the recipient responds questionably, a backup is available to reference back to exactly what you wrote, and see that they are right or wrong. Number two is to insure that you receive a response on all the topics you covered if a response was requested…or expected. Someone’s omission of a subject in a response may have great meaning.
Is a written letter so important that its contents are all carefully memorized by some?
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If you do it on the computer, you have a saved copy there. If it is a personal, handwritten letter, I would assume that the specific contents are not so curcial that you need a copy. If they are, then you photocopy it.
If you write your letter on a computer and print it out, you have a copy in your computer (unless you delete it).
If your letter is handwritten, then you might copy it. I copied all my letters since I was 18, long before personal computers arrived on the scene. I copied them for posterity, in case I, or someone else ever was interested in seeing what I was doing or thinking back then. Since I don’t keep a diary, that would be about the only place I could find information about my past.
Otherwise, no. A written letter is not so important that you should memorize it or preserve it in order to fend off law suits or whatever. Just live your life, man. You want posterity? Keep a copy. You want to avoid a law suit? Get some new friends.
Depends what the letter is for. If it’s just a note to Auntie Frances wishing her a happy birthday, no. But if it’s of a more serious nature, maybe.
If it’s hand written you could scan it into your PC
That’s actually a really good idea. I used to correspond via snail mail all the time and if you’ve got a couple of running lines of communication it’s easy to receive a response letter after you’ve all but forgotten what you wrote in the original letter.
Never thought to copy mine, but it’s definitely a good idea if you’ve got the equipment handy to make it convenient.
yeah, I often scan mine. The leisurely time lapse between the letters makes it easy to remember exactly what was in the letter…
This is more important the more famous you plan on becoming. Before making any copies, however, keep in mind whether or not you want historians (or anyone else) reading the letters after you die.
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