History's Greatest Letters - Volume II

By Thomas Jefferson, Jane Austen and Winston Churchill

Of the billions of pieces of correspondence that have been sent through the ages- via messenger, pony express, post office, email and carrier pigeon - many have proved to be either significant, historic, inspiring, fascinating, heartbreaking...or some combination of them all.

Collected here are some of these letters; some by fa

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ft. Raphael Publishing Company
• Release date: May 6, 2024
• ISBN: 9798892820745

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the 3rd president of the United States. William Peden is professor emeritus of English at the University of Missouri.

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Table of Correspondents

St. Paul

Christopher Columbus

King Henry VIII

Galileo Galilei

Thomas Jefferson

Jane Austen

Charles Dickens

Charlotte Brontë

Sullivan Ballou

Bram Stoker and Walt Whitman

Francis Carr-Gomm

Mark Twain

Srinivasa Ramanujan

Lt. Siefried Sassoon

Amelia Earhart

Albert Einstein

Winston Churchill

Lt. Richard Helms

Frida Kahlo

William Safire

St. Paul

Welcome him as you would me.

Letter from St. Paul to Philemon

51-62 AD

Following the death of Jesus Christ, word of his life, death and reported resurrection began to spread throughout the ancient world and Christianity - as a religion - was born. Saul of Tarsus was a Pharisee who helped to persecute some of these early Christians until - as legend has it - the Risen Christ appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus and struck him blind. Upon his recovery, he changed his name to Paul and proclaimed that he was a convert who now believed in Christ’s divinity.

Consequently, Paul became an early advocate for the Christian faith and he wrote a number of letters to various Christian sects all around the ancient world. These foundational epistles (some of which are in dispute as to authorship) are the earliest exploration of Christian theology and ethics.

Towards the end of his life, while imprisoned in Rome and awaiting trial for his purported crimes, Paul penned the following letter to Philemon, the leader of the Colossian church, urging him to welcome a former slave, Onesimus, as a brother.

Paul’s letters now make up no less than thirteen books of the New Testament.

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1 Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon, our beloved and our co-worker,

2 to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church at your house.

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I give thanks to my God always, remembering you in my prayers,

5 as I hear of the love and the faith you have in the Lord Jesus and for all the holy ones,

6 so that your partnership in the faith may become effective in recognizing every good there is in us that leads to Christ.

7 For I have experienced much joy and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the holy ones have been refreshed by you, brother.

8 Therefore, although I have the full right in Christ to order you to do what is proper,

9 I rather urge you out of love, being as I am, Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus.

10 I urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment,

11 who was once useless to you but is now useful to both you and me.

12 I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you.

13 I should have liked to retain him for myself, so that he might serve me on your behalf in my imprisonment for the gospel,

14 but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary.

15 Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while, that you might have him back forever,

16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother, beloved especially to me, but even more so to you, as a man and in the Lord.

17 So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me.

18 And if he has done you any injustice or owes you anything, charge it to me.

19 I, Paul, write this in my own hand: I will pay. May I not tell you that you owe me your very self.

20 Yes, brother, may I profit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.

21 With trust in your compliance I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say.

22 At the same time prepare a guest room for me, for I hope to be granted to you through your prayers.

Christopher Columbus

See the man from Heaven!

Letter from Christopher Columbus to Luis De Sant Angel Announcing His Discovery -

February 15, 1493

On his return voyage to Spain in early 1493, Christopher Columbus penned this letter describing his discovery of what he believed to be a series of islands off the coast of mainland China or Cathay as it was called. He had yet to realize that instead of traveling from Europe to Asia, he had actually stumbled upon a new continent. The letter is addressed to Luis De Sant Angel, ostensibly King Ferdinand’s Finance Minister and the man in charge of Columbus’ expenses for the voyage.

Columbus has become a controversial figure in world history. Once hailed as the Great Explorer who discovered the New World, details about Columbus’ actions upon his arrival in the West Indies - including enslaving Native Americans, forcing them to covert to Christianity and subjecting the indigenous people to violence and brutality - have tarnished his image and painted his voyages as those of an opportunist and a merciless conquerer of the peaceful natives.

* * * * * * * *

As I know you will be rejoiced at the glorious success that our Lord has given me in my voyage, I write this to tell you how in thirty-three days I sailed to the Indies with the fleet that