The National Archives in England is currently working on digitizing a treasure trove of letters seized from captured ships during war times. The letters, known as the Prize Papers, date from the 17th to 19th centuries. That covers the American and French Revolutionary wars as well as Napoleonic conflicts.
Jeff James, Chief Executive and Keeper at The National Archives, said: ‘This is a collection of truly global importance and the sheer wealth of research opportunities this project will provide is breath-taking." These letters were all undelivered and some contain some pretty sad stories, as described in this CBC radio article. Efforts to digitize and catalog the letters began in May and are expected to take twenty years to completion. You can follow the project's progress at their website, The Prize Papers Database.
Brilliant!
Thank you.
I have shared this on A World of Snail Mail site
Posted by: STEFAN | September 24, 2018 at 01:25 PM
I would love to see these letters.
Posted by: Cynthia | October 05, 2018 at 01:34 PM