Letterworlds in Late Nineteenth-Century France
The Epistolary Culture of Mallarmé, Morisot, Van Gogh, Cézanne, and Zola

A window into the epistolary worlds of some of modernity's most iconic figures: Mallarmé, Morisot, Van Gogh, Cézanne, and Zola.

Susan Harrow (Author)

9781009619004, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 October 2025

290 pages
23.5 x 16 x 2 cm, 0.57 kg

'This brilliant book on letters of nineteenth century artists and writers reminds us that reading letters provides not only a marvelous glimpse into the intimacy of artists, but has to be seen as a cultural production reflecting on the values, ideas and debates of their time. A wonderful reminder of the importance of correspondence in every sense of the word.' Florence Fix, Professor of Comparative Literature, Normandie University

Today's world of e-mails, text messages, and social media posts reminds us that letter-writing is an age-old practice that has continually re-invented itself culturally and contextually, connecting individuals and creating communities that may be local or global, personal or public, purposeful or playful, actual or virtual. Yet we have barely begun to explore why letter-writing matters: how it teaches us important lessons, across historical, cultural, and geographical boundaries, about being human. Letterworlds turns to the past – to the late nineteenth century – in order to explore questions of crucial relevance to our present: questions of subjectivity, solitude, and community, physical and mental wellbeing, ethics, and the everyday. Using a fresh holistic and thematic methodology, Susan Harrow examines how such issues suffuse and animate the letter-writing of a group of writers and artists whose contributions are seminal in the development of Western aesthetic modernity: Mallarmé, Morisot, Van Gogh, Cézanne, and Zola.

Introduction: thinking letterworlds
1. Unlocking capacity
2. The embodied letter
3. Solitude and community
4. Ethics and the everyday
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]