For centuries, love letters were the only form of communication a couple had to stay connected and express their love when separated by distance or misfortune. Since most of today's love letters have gone digital or disappeared completely, we are left to admire the great love letters of yesteryear. Here are the 10 most famous love letters in history:
  1. Ludwig van Beethoven to the Immortal Beloved: The German composer and pianist may have been a quiet and mysterious soul, but he was also quite the ladies man during his prime. Beethoven had several known lovers, but one lady in particular remains a mystery to all. Beethoven's sweetheart the "Immortal Beloved" has never been identified, but we know from his captivating love letters that he felt rather strongly about her and their secretive courtship.
  2. Winston and Clementine Churchill: Winston Churchill may be best remembered for his wartime leadership and inspirational speeches, but this statesman was also quite the romantic writer. The courtship and marriage of Winston and Clementine is well documented in their collection of famous love letters. Their letters included kind words and the occasional quarrels, as well as illustrations of their pets and, ironically, their pet names. Winston was her "pug" and she was his "cat."
  3. John and Abigail Adams: President John Adams and his wife Abigail were more than just lovers, they were lifelong pen pals. The two exchanged more than 1,100 letters from the beginning of their courtship to the end of his career. While John was serving as a delegate to the Continental Congress, he regularly wrote letters to Abigail seeking her opinions and approval on his political affairs. Even though their correspondence didn't typically include the gushy, romantic text you see in most love letters, they shared a deep love and appreciation for one another that shows in each line.
  4. Napoleon Bonaparte and Josephine de Beauharnais: Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte's marriage was famously documented in the love letters he sent her while he was away at war. The couple was torn apart just days after their marriage, when he was ordered to leave and command the French army near Italy. These passionate letters illustrate the sadness, jealousy and distance felt between the two. Josephine rarely wrote Napoleon back, and he began to hear rumors that she was being unfaithful to him. His letters became more intimate and loving, but quickly turned sour when it was confirmed that she was having an affair.
  5. Lewis Carroll to Gertrude Chataway: English author Lewis Carroll had a way with his words and a quirky sense of humor that really came through in his 1876 love letter to Gertrude Chataway. In the letter, Carroll famously tells his story of going to the doctor for an unexplainable illness he got when she left his side. His diagnosis: love sickness. The doctor orders him to stop kissing her and let his lips rest. So, in Carroll's adorable fashion, he sends Gertrude the love letter with an empty box full of 182 kisses he owed her.
  6. Voltaire to Olympe Dunover: French author Voltaire may have been thrown into prison because he was dating the young Olympe Dunover, but he didn't let the confinements of prison keep him from writing his beloved girlfriend so that she would know how much he loved her. He wrote to Olympe and said he would risk his life just to see her. As it turns out, he did risk his life by climbing out of a window and escaping prison to be with his mistress.
  7. Lord Byron to Countess Teresa Guiccioli: British poet Lord Byron was a leader of the Romanticism movement and a notorious heartbreaker. His love life was filled with scandalous affairs, incestuous relationships and male courtships that gave him a wild and destructive reputation. Byron's relationships with Lady Caroline Lamb and his young wife Teresa, Countess Guiccioli were well documented in the love letters he wrote them. The love letter collection captures the true essence of these brief but passionate affairs, and even includes a breakup letter.
  8. King Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn: Before Anne Boleyn was Queen of England and beheaded for charges of adultery, incest and high treason, she was King Henry VIII's mistress, to whom he used to write love letters. The undated letters were originally written in French during King Henry VIII's marriage to Katharine of Aragon. The secretive lovers were separated by distance and the struggles of getting his marriage annulled. Their high-profile affair was met with deep sadness and loneliness, which Henry describes in the love letters.
  9. John Keats to Fanny Brawne: English poet John Keats was no stranger to romantic writing or having romances of his own. A lovestruck Keats poured his heart out in the wonderfully detailed letters he wrote to sweetheart Fanny Brawne. The letters capture the passion and agony of being away from his lover, as well as his downfall of disease and depression that eventually tore them apart. Keats signed his letters with a request to "write immediately," but unfortunately we can't see her responses because her letters didn't survive.
  10. Emily Dickinson to Susan Huntington Dickinson: American poet Emily Dickinson was known for her enchanting poetry and unorthodox use of random capitalization and broken rhyming, but there was much more to this sensitive and introverted woman. Even though she was linked to a couple fellows during her life, Emily only longed for one person – Susan Gilbert Dickinson, her brother's wife. It's unclear if Dickinson was in fact a lesbian, but her letters to Susan Gilbert speak volumes about her love and affinity for her sister-in-law. Susan Gilbert never responded to Emily's letters and went forth with the marriage, which only intensified Emily's feelings and fueled her poems even more.
(source:onlinedegree.net)
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