The studies presented in this volume concentrate on aspects of Late Modern English
correspondence in the usage of individuals belonging to different social classes writing for
different purposes and finding themselves in different social contexts both in Britain and in
its colonies. As the growing body of research published in recent years has shown analysing
the language of letters presents both a challenge and an opportunity to obtain access to as
full a range of styles as would be possible for a period for which we only have access to the
language in its written form. It is an area of study in which all the contributors have
considerable expertise which affords them to present data findings while discussing important
methodological issues. In addition in most cases data derive from specially-designed
'second-generation' corpora reflecting state-of-the-art approaches to historical
sociolinguistics and pragmatics. Theoretical issues concerning letters as a text type their
role in social network analysis and their value in the identification of register or variety
specific traits are highlighted alongside issues concerning the (often less than easy)
relationship between strictly codified norms and actual usage on the part of speakers whose
level of education could vary considerably.
