nd
capitalization, too, must be looked after, and the whole letter give
evidence of thought and care on the writer's part.

Handwriting, Paper and Ink

are all of importance, and etiquette has prescribed certain formulas
for these adjuncts of a good letter, that, however the vagaries of
fashion may invade the outer borders of the realm epistolary, are
always correct and in good style.

The paper in best taste is thick, white or creamy-tinted, unruled and
of such a size as to fold once for fitting square-shaped envelopes,
creamy-white like the paper. Never use envelopes so thin in quality as
to permit the writing to be seen through from the outside. The square
envelope is not a necessity; the slightly oblong is also used, the
paper being folded twice to fit this size.

This paper would be suitable and in perfect style in any portion of
the civilized world, and on any occasion, and no one with any
pretensions to good breeding should be found unsupplied. This is an
item in which we cannot afford to economize, for one judges a lady or
gentleman, unconsciously, by the contents of his or her writing desk,
as exemplified by the letters sent from their hands.

Monograms are not entirely "out," but they are only used by those to
whom their own especial design, through long use, has come to seem
almost a part of themselves. All fleeting fancies in stationery should
be passed by on the other side, or, at most, left to the wayward
tastes of "sweet sixteen," or to some few whose very eccentricities
are part of their fame. Sarah Bernhardt, for instance, uses blue
paper framed in a pale gray line on the top of the page, and the flap
of the envelope is a tragic mark, above which her initials are
traversed by a scroll bearing her motto, "_Quand meme_." She is as
exact, however, in the formulas of her letters as any dowager of the
old school. The Royal Highnesses of England use the paper and square
envelopes before described; initials, monograms and crests are left to
foreigners and outsiders, and the Orleans family, of France, are
severely plain in their choice of stationery.

[Illustration: INCORRECT MODE OF HOLDING THE PEN.]

[Illustration: PROPER MODE OF HOLDING THE PEN.]

[Illustration: CORRECT POSITION OF THE HAND.]

Given the correct paper and envelopes and plain, jet-black ink (no
other tint should ever be used), the penmanship must next be
considered. It is very well for Madame Bernhardt to write an elegant,
gracef