Black’s Law Dictionary 1st Edition, pages 704-:
LETTER. 1. One of the arbitrary marks or char- acters constituting the alphabet, and used in writ- ten language as the representatives of sounds or articulations of the human organs of speech.
2. A dispatch or epistle; a written or printed mes- sage; a communication in writing from one per- son to another at a distance. Buchwald v. Buch- wald, 199 A. 795, 799, 175 Md. 103.
3. In the imperial law of Rome, “letter” or “epistle” was the name of the answer returned by the emperor to a question of law submitted to him by the magistrates.
A communication inclosed, sealed, and stamped’ and being carried as first-class mail. Hyney v. U. S., C.C.A.Mich., 44 F.2d 134, 136; Wolpa v. U. S., C.C.A.Neb., 86 F.2d 35, 39.
4. A commission, patent, or written instrument containing or attesting the grant of some power, authority, or right.
The word appears in this generic sense in many com- pound phrases known to commercial law and jurispru- dence; e. g., letter of attorney, letter missive, letter of credit, letters patent. The plural is frequently used.
5. Metaphorically, the verbal expression; the strict literal meaning.
The letter of a statute, as distinguished from its spirit, means the strict and exact force of the language employed, as distinguished from the general purpose and policy of the law.
6. He who, being the owner of a thing, lets it out to another for hire or compensation. Story, Bailm. § 369.
LETTER-BOOK. A book in which a merchant or trader keeps copies of letters sent by him to his correspondents.
LETTER-CARRIER. An employe of the post-of- fice, whose duty it is to carry letters from the post-office to the persons to whom they are ad- dressed.
LETTER MISSIVE. In English law. A letter from the king or queen to a dean and chapter, con- taining the name of the person whom he would have them elect as bishop. 1 Steph.Comm. 666. A request addressed to a peer, peeress, or lord of parliament against whom a bill has been filed de- siring the defendant to appear and answer to the bill. In civil-law practice. The phrase “letters missive,” or “letters dimissory,” is sometimes used to denote the papers sent up on an appeal by the judge or court below to the superior tribunal, otherwise called the “apostles,” (q. v.).
Black’s Law Dictionary 4th Edition, pages 1048-1050:
LETTER. One of the arbitrary marks or char- acters constituting the alphabet, and used in writ- ten language as the representatives of sounds or articulations of the human organs of speech.
A dispatch or epistle; a written or printed mes- sage; a communication in writing from one per- son to another at a distance. Buchwald v. Buch- wald, 199 A. 795, 799, 175 Md. 103.
In the imperial law of Rome, “letter” or “epistle” was the name of the answer returned by the emperor to a question of law submitted to him by the magistrates.
A communication inclosed, sealed, and stamped’ and being carried as first-class mail. Hyney v. U. S., C.C.A.Mich., 44 F.2d 134, 136; Wolpa v. U. S., C.C.A.Neb., 86 F.2d 35, 39.
A commission, patent, or written instrument containing or attesting the grant of some power, authority, or right.
The word appears in this generic sense in many com- pound phrases known to commercial law and jurispru- dence; e. g., letter of attorney, letter missive, letter of credit, letters patent. The plural is frequently used.
Metaphorically, the verbal expression; the strict literal meaning.
The letter of a statute, as distinguished from its spirit, means the strict and exact force of the language employed, as distinguished from the general purpose and policy of the law.
He who, being the owner of a thing, lets it out to another for hire or compensation. Story, Bailm. § 369.
As to letters of “Administration,” “Advice,” “At- torney,” “Credit,” “Horning,” “Recommendation,” see those titles. As to “Letters Patent,” see Pat- ent.
LETTER-BOOK. A book in which a merchant or trader keeps copies of letters sent by him to his correspondents.
LETTER-CARRIER. An employe of the post-of- fice, whose duty it is to carry letters from the post-office to the persons to whom they are ad- dressed.
LETTER MISSIVE. In English law. A