Brief aan Philip Zilcken Possibly 1887

Taco H. de Beer wrote this letter to Philip Zilcken in Amsterdam in 1887. The materials are simple: paper and ink. Everyday materials, but that’s the point. The way the ink lies on the page—the pressure and flow that forms the handwriting—tells us a lot about how the writing was produced, in what conditions, and how quickly. You can almost feel the scribe's hand moving across the page. This was before typewriters became common, so the labor of correspondence was a skilled practice, one with its own aesthetic. Think of the time taken, letter by letter, word by word, to produce this page. It makes you realize how much of our communication today is intangible, digital. Here, the physical act of writing gives the letter a special aura, a trace of the maker. Considering the role of materials, making, and context expands our appreciation of this simple piece of paper, blurring the boundaries between document and design.