Paston Letters

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Paston Letters

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Paston Letters collection of personal and business correspondence, mostly among members of the Paston family of Norfolk, England. The letters cover the years from 1422 to 1529, together with deeds and other documents. The family was at that time actively acquiring land and properties in the area, some of it by questionable means, including the estates of Sir John Fastolf . The collection forms an indispensable source for the history, manners, morals, habits, customs, and moneys of the people of England at the close of the Middle Ages. A portion of the letters was published by James Fenn in 1787 and 1789, but the original manuscripts disappeared and doubt of their authenticity grew. However, they were rediscovered after 1865, with additional material. A definitive edition was edited by James Gairdner (1904), and a volume of selections edited with an introduction by Norman Davis was published in 1958.

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Paston letters

A Dictionary of British History | 2004 | | © A Dictionary of British History 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Paston letters Private correspondence (15th–17th cents.) of a Norfolk family, that of the 15th cent. in particular providing insights into the social history of the pre‐Reformation period. Not only a family saga ( Margery's clandestine marriage to their estate manager in 1469 caused consternation), business affairs, property matters, and associated litigation trace the progress of ‘new’ gentry.

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JOHN CANNON. "Paston letters." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 16 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN CANNON. "Paston letters." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (December 16, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-Pastonletters.html

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Paston letters

The Oxford Companion to British History | 2002 | | © The Oxford Companion to British History 2002, originally published by Oxford University Press 2002. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Paston letters. Private correspondence (15th–17th cents.) of a Norfolk family, that of the 15th cent. in particular providing significant insights into the social history of the pre-Reformation period. Not only a family saga (Margery's clandestine marriage to their estate manager in 1469 caused consternation), business affairs, property matters, and associated litigation trace the progress of ‘new’ gentry, despite some archival fragmentation. Although property was confined mainly to East Anglia, their interests were far from parochial, so accounts of national events leaven those of regional politics and matrimonial negotiations, all reflecting social attitudes, culture, and the state of the English language.

A. S. Hargreaves

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JOHN CANNON. "Paston letters." The Oxford Companion to British History. Oxford University Press. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (December 16, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-Pastonletters.html

JOHN CANNON. "Paston letters." The Oxford Companion to British History. Oxford University Press. 2002. Retrieved December 16, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-Pastonletters.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article Paston Letters and Papers of the Fifteenth Century. Part III.(Brief article)(Book review)
Magazine article from: Contemporary Review; 3/22/2007
Free Article Paston Letters and Papers of the Fifteenth Century.(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Contemporary Review; 4/1/2005
Free Article Blood & Roses: The Paston Family in the Fifteenth Century.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Contemporary Review; 3/1/2005

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Paston Letters and Papers of the Fifteenth Century.(Brief article)(Book review)
Magazine article from: Medium Aevum; 9/22/2007; ; 677 words ; Paston Letters and Papers of the Fifteenth Century...final volume of the EETS edition of the Paston Letters; the first two were originally...devoted to the texts of 121 additional Paston letters and papers between 1425 and 1484...
Paston Letters and Papers of the Fifteenth Century. Part III.(Brief article)(Book review)
Magazine article from: Contemporary Review; 3/22/2007; 514 words ; Paston Letters and Papers of the Fifteenth Century. Part III. Richard Beadle and...index covering all three volumes, a concordance to other volumes of Paston letters, and a 'working chronology' of the letters and papers. The editors...
Paston Letters and Papers of the Fifteenth Century.(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Contemporary Review; 4/1/2005; 564 words ; Paston Letters and Papers of the Fifteenth Century...important collection of fifteenth-century letters spreading over three generations and set...was also the first to point out which letters were autograph and which were written...
RADIO CHOICE: Women's Hour Drama: The Paston Letters Monday to Friday, 10.45am BBC RADIO 4
Newspaper article from: The Independent on Sunday; 6/18/2006; ; 312 words ; Written roughly between 1430 and 1495, The Paston Letters are the earliest surviving private correspondence in Britain, offering a unique glimpse into the concerns and fears of an upwardly...
'I shalle send word in writing': lexical choices and legal acumen in the letters of Margaret Paston.(Essay)
Magazine article from: Medium Aevum; 9/22/2008; ; 700+ words ; ...Margaret used in her letters represent her own lexical...involvement with the letter-writing process generally...which enabled Margaret Paston (and by implication...a study of Margaret Paston's knowledge of the...linguistic competence of her letters to have any validity...concepts correctly ...
The Paston Family in the Fifteenth Century: Endings. .(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Albion; 9/22/2002; ; 700+ words ; ...their county societies. The Paston family attracts particular...extensive and well-known letter collection. Recent studies...sources. The author takes the Paston letters and complimentary contemporary...apertures for discussion of the Paston's and their world that is...
Obituary: Dame Beryl Paston Brown
Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 8/6/1997; ; 700+ words ; ...emerging in the early Seventies. Beryl Paston Brown was born in London in 1909...the Pastons of the 15th-century Paston Letters and her mother was a member of the...controversial bishop of Durham. Paston Brown was educated at Streatham...
The Paston Family in the Fifteenth Century: Endings.(Review)
Magazine article from: History Today; 9/1/2001; ; 700+ words ; The Paston Family in the Fifteenth Century...0 7190 5990 9 THE PASTONS' LETTER COLLECTION is a rich, if familiar...William Lomnor's report to John Paston, of the murder of Henry VI...principally because of their bulk the letters have never been used to write...of a nuncupative will, John ...
Blood & Roses: The Paston Family in the Fifteenth Century.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
Magazine article from: Contemporary Review; 3/1/2005; 500 words ; Blood & Roses: The Paston Family in the Fifteenth Century...their first publication in 1787, the letters of the Paston family have been our best insight...century. As Miss Castor writes, the letters 'offered a unique and compelling...
Addressed to the past, sent to the future Blair Worden on why the letters exchanged by a 15th-century Norfolk family still have the power to return us to sender
Newspaper article from: The Sunday Telegraph London; 10/17/2004; ; 700+ words ; Blood and Roses: The Paston Family in the Fifteenth Century by...education was dumbed down, the term "the Paston letters" was familiar to undergraduates...England. The correspondence of the Paston family, which rose rapidly from peasant...

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