In a novel endeavor, the 25 representative interpretations contained in this volume converge upon the communicative phenomenon of the letter by means of precise and methodologically diverse individual readings. Taken together, they trace a history of the culture of German-language correspondence from the 16th to the late 20th centuries. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives, the book reflects about the textuality, materiality and mediality of the letter as well as its rhetorical communicative function, the value of correspondence as a form of historical documentation, and the history of letter archiving and publishing.