Cross-Hatching In the mid-nineteenth century the cost of postage was expensive and individuals tried to incorporate as much into a letter as possible. One common method was to fill the page and then to turn the paper ninety degrees and continue writing over previous text. This is called "cross-hatching." The example shown here is from the Elias Loomis Family Papers. Loomis was a professor at Yale College and is credited with discovering Halley's Comet. The collection includes letters from family members scattered across the eastern United States, which contain discussions of contemporary issues such as slavery and abolitionism. |
Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library |