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“[He] brought her name writ upon blue paper
in gold letters…”
(Samuel Pepys, The Diary of Samuel Pepys, February 14,
1667)
Although sending Valentine letters or poems dates to the 15th
century and perhaps before, the first mention of a decorative
Valentine's Day “card” may be in the writings
of Samuel Pepys, a chronicler of domestic life in Charles II's
reign. He relates how “this morning came up to my wife's
bedside…little Will Mercer to be her Valentine; and brought
her name writ upon blue paper in gold letters done by himself
very pretty; and we both were very pleased with it. But I am also
this year my wife's Valentine.”
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Miscellaneous Papers of Samuel Pepys 1679-1703
Engraving from a painting by Sir Godfrey
Kneller (1646–1754) in volume 1 of J.R. Tanner, ed., Private
Correspondence and Miscellaneous Papers of Samuel Pepys, 1679–1703
(London: G. Bell and Sons, 1926).
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