The Gawdy Papers (1509-c. 1750) and the History of Professional Writing in England

Abstract

Since the Gawdy Papers, a mostly unpublished collection of family papers in the British Library consisting of over five thousand docu ments, cover such a large period in the history of modern business writing (1509-c. 1750), they are extremely helpful in formulating ten tative theories about the history of business writing, a history which is at present largely blank. This article describes the collection and gives a brief history of the Gawdy family before examining some apparent trends in English business writing during the period, notably the gradual move from brief, formulaic, barebones documents to a more leisurely style and the increasing but problematic use of writing by women. Additionally, the article argues for a more comprehensive definition of "business" writing: first, before the nineteenth century most business was in modern terms agricultural rather than mercan tile, and second, in the small and inbred world of the middle and gentry classes many business letters combined private and public mat ters in ways unfamiliar in later business writing.