Archival mail clubs

Real history, posted to you each month.

Crossed Letter publishes three mail clubs. Each month we print a piece of the past on good paper, add a note on what we know now, and post it to you.

Join the waitlist Subscriptions open in November 2026

After the conquest of the South Pole by Amundsen, who, by a narrow margin of days only, was in advance of the British Expedition under Scott, there remained but one great main object of Antarctic journeyings—the crossing of the South Polar continent from sea to sea.

When I returned from the Nimrod Expedition on which we had to turn back from our attempt to plant the British flag on the South Pole, being beaten by stress of circumstances within ninety-seven miles of our goal, my mind turned to the crossing of the continent, for I was morally certain that either Amundsen or Scott would reach the Pole on our own route or a parallel one.

Amundsen reached the South Pole on 14 December 1911. Scott reached it thirty-four days later and died on the way back.

In August 1914 Shackleton sailed to cross the whole continent. His ship was caught in the ice before he could land.

Across: Ernest Shackleton, South (1919), from the preface. Crosswise, in blue: our note.

Three titles

Pick one, or all three.

The Packet

One expedition in twelve dispatches, in the explorer’s own words.

First voyage: Shackleton’s Endurance expedition, 1914–1917. A letter-style dispatch, a chart panel that grows each month, and a slip of notes.

First dispatch planned for January 2027 packet.crossedletter.com
Nature Printed

One species a month, as the Victorians drew it and as we understand it now.

A hand-coloured plate, loose for framing, with the original description and a field note on where to find the species this month.

First issue planned for November 2026 nature.crossedletter.com
Gaslight

The news of this month, exactly 150 years ago.

One sheet of newsprint set as a Victorian paper: the reports, the weather, the shipping and the advertisements, with a leaflet on what was really going on.

First issue planned for November 2026 gaslight.crossedletter.com

Why “Crossed Letter”

When postage was charged by the sheet, letter-writers saved money by filling a page, turning it a quarter turn and writing on across their own lines. The reader followed one direction, then the other.

We borrowed the name for the same pairing of two voices. Each of our titles sends the original, as it was first printed, with a short note from us on what we know now.

Join the waitlist

Tick the titles you’d like to hear about. We’ll email you when subscriptions open in November, with prices and dates.