A love letter from 1477 with the first use of the word Valentine (British Library)
Did you see this Valentine story? The BBC reports: "The
first reference to ‘Valentine’ has been found within a 500-year-old love letter, where the 17-year-old Margery Brews pleads with her
betrothed, John Paston, to marry her (despite her parents' refusal to increase her dowry)." The letter is part of a British Library exhibition on the evolution of the English language.
Written between 1422-1509, the letters between the Pastons, a Norfolk family, are the oldest record of private correspondence that survive in Britain. The bulk of the letters are in the British Library, others are in the Bodleian Library, Oxford and the Norfolk Record Office.
Margery and John married in 1477 and produced a son, William, in 1479. The 16th- and 17th-generation descendants of Margery Brews and John Paston were traced via MyHeritage.com.
Using letters from collections in the British Library, the Royal Naval Museum, and the Imperial War Museum,
MyHeritage.com, put up a gallery of significant British love letters from the past 500 years at www.myheritage.com/loveletters. They are also looking for the "romantic British love letter ever written," which can be submitted at the same URL. The winner will be announced on February 25. Details on the competition's terms and conditions are available online.
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