Brief aan Jan Veth Possibly 1893 - 1899

Jac van Looij penned this letter to Jan Veth sometime around 1893, using ink on paper. Though seemingly simple, these materials reflect significant shifts in 19th-century production. Paper, once a luxury, became increasingly affordable thanks to industrial manufacturing. Simultaneously, the mass production of ink standardized writing, democratizing communication. The handwriting itself adds another layer of significance. In an era before widespread typewriters or computers, handwriting was a ubiquitous skill. This letter speaks to a world steeped in manual labor, where even casual correspondence involved physical exertion and care. We can imagine van Looij carefully forming each word, the pressure of the pen leaving its mark on the page. This contrasts sharply with our digital age, where text is often ephemeral and divorced from physical effort. Considering the materials and the act of writing helps us appreciate the labor involved and the cultural values embedded in this seemingly ordinary object.