100 Great Letters and Diaries

Letter as a certain message has come to us from a distant past. Diplomatic letters of Egyptian pharaohs, Mesopotamian and Chinese rulers have been preserved. There are letters from outstanding Romans, who left us brilliant examples of the epistolary genre, distinguished by philosophical depth and artistic expressiveness. Such are the letters of Cicero, Seneca, and Pliny the Younger. The highest point in the development of epistolary art is considered to be the 18th and 19th centuries. During this time, letters become not only the most important means of communication between people, but also a literary genre.
The prototypes of diaries appeared in the form of clay tablets in Ancient Assyria. In ancient Rome, reports on the deeds of emperors as well as records of dreams and their interpretations were kept. In the Middle Ages, chronicles and travel notes were peculiar diaries. Diaries in the modern sense appear in Europe only during the Renaissance.
The next book in the series tells about one hundred famous letters and diaries of various eras.